Lost, but Found
by SmAsHBrownGuy
Summary: Set in an AU where Ryuko and Satsuki never knew each other, much less were ever sisters, when a delinquent student catches the attention (and heart) of the Queen Bee of the high school, Satsuki Kiryuin, what will ensue? [Ryuko x Satsuki, Mako x Gamagōri, Hōka x Nonon]
1. All in Due Time

_A/N: Well, I haven't done anything in the Kill la Kill department ever, which surprises me because I absolutely love the anime, so I'm happy I've finally gotten around to it. Now, allow me to get all the sappy, emotional junk out of the way so we can focus on what really matters, eh?_

_I fell in love with Kill la Kill because of its brilliant styling, hilarious yet kick-ass characters, and how well its animation fits it (Thank you, Trigger). And I picked up that people were going to ship Ryuko with Satsuki pretty quick. But what with the revealing of them being sisters, I'm not sure what people think of it now. _

_So let's change that, eh?_

_This piece will center around the lives of our favorite characters placed into a high school AU (because you can never have enough of those, right?), where Satsuki and Ryuko never were/will be sisters. Satsuki still controls this high school to a degree, but what will happen when a rogue girl catches her eye?_

_Get ready for the ships to set sail, because here comes, '__**Lost, but Found**__'!_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stonewall High School, a place that some people describe as a nice, warm, inviting environment, where learning is only fostered. Those people are delusional, or have since been sentenced to asylums where the only thing coming out of their mouth nowadays is foam. Stonewall does have its up points, such as plenty of after-school and during-school clubs, and a nice open environment, where classes are spread out at different times of the day, so as to make room for clubs. Students will normally enter the three-floored school at around 8 A.M. and leave at 1:55 P.M.. For those who don't have clubs, it's a pleasant release. For those who do, it just means another room/place to go to until around 2:30 or 3:00 P.M..

Each student has four classes (each one an hour long with 20-25 minute passing periods in-between), and each class takes place at a different time of day, leaving some students free-roaming whilst others are bound to mundane lessons.

If anything was certain at Stonewall High, it was stay out of the way of one girl in particular. Satsuki Kiryuin. A senior who had established a formidable presence at the academy. By keeping close ties with the heads of the 4 main clubs, Fencing, Computer/Information, Football, and Cheerleading, she had found a way to place the entire ebb and flow of the social tide at the tips of her fingers. Satsuki was actually head of the cheerleading squad, making herself even more untouchable.

She often caused people who came near her, or that she walked past in the hallways, to bow out of respect, or some other such gesture. Well, Satsuki knew that it wasn't really respect, in fact, it was more like fear…but she accepted said gestures with her normal frown that perpetually painted her face.

There wasn't ever really peace within Satsuki's realm, people often tried to challenge her will or her position as the reigning queen bee of the social scene, but none were ever successful, and normally ended up transferring schools to escape the humiliation that Satsuki would bestow upon them.

Yes, truly there was no one that could shatter Satsuki's concentration, presence, and will.

Or at least, that's what everyone thought…

It began one day at a school pep rally. Stonewall had an unconventional way of doing pep rallies in that it assigned a particular pep rally for each individual grade. In this case, the freshmen were getting a demonstration from the Fencing Club in their clubroom, the sophomores were getting a special video presentation from the Information/Computer Club in the gym, the juniors were being rallied by the football team out front of the school, and the seniors were getting a special demonstration from the Cheerleading Club.

The Cheerleading Club was performing said demonstration out in the football field, where there were ample bleachers for the gargantuan senior class, the field had just been trimmed by the Gardening Club, and there were a few benches on the edge of the field that would standardly be used for the football players to rest on, but today, were used for weak and weary girls to take a breather on between routines. They were just finishing their final routine, the pyramid.

Satsuki stood atop the pyramid formed by the six other members of the Cheerleading Club, holding her blue and yellow (the school's colors) pom-pons high, though she still sported her normal frown. This didn't deter the crowd any, though. The boys, and girls even, took elation at Satsuki in that tight, skimpy, dark blue cheerleader's outfit that consisted of only a top that exposed her belly, and a short skirt that fell just below her buttocks. As the crowd continued to roar with applause, Satsuki backflipped off of the top of the pyramid as it began to disassemble, and stuck the landing perfectly, eliciting more applause than ever before. The crowd began to calm down when Nonon Jakuzure, Satsuki's co-captain, took the microphone off of one of the benches, tapped it once to make sure it was on, and her voice resonated through the school's blown-out speakers as she called out, "All right, everyone. That's all for today! Have a great day and let's give it up for the Cheerleading Club and Captain Satsuki!"

The crowd once again erupted in a raucous celebration, and began to dismiss themselves. Satsuki gave the 'dismissed' hand signal to the rest of the girls, they collectively shrugged and nodded in acknowledgement and began to dismiss themselves as well.

Satsuki eyed the crowd as they were leaving, something didn't feel right to her; she had no real way of describing it, save for as intuition, and watched every single person leave.

"Hey~! Satsuki~!" Nonon sang as she skipped up to Satsuki, "You wanna go-"

Satsuki cut Nonon short with a single finger on her lips, and a subtle, "Shh!"

"What's going on?" Nonon inquired as she lifted Satsuki's hand off of her lips and threw her pom-pons over next to Satsuki's.

"Call it intuition," Satsuki replied in her normal, cold tone, never once averting her glare from the stream of people flowing out of the bleachers and back to the high school, "my dear, Nonon."

"_Intuition_?" Nonon once again inquired as she fiddled with her vibrant pink hair to restore it to its original style: her bangs swooped to her right, with two long strands dangling down opposite sides of her face.

"Didn't things feel a little off during the performance?" Satsuki inquired as she began to scan the crowd carefully with her eyes, not moving her head an inch.

"Well, no, not really," Nonon replied as she placed her hand on her chin, "you were fantastic, and so were the rest of the girls-"

"That's not what I'm getting at." Satsuki interrupted, continuing to scan the crowd, "I meant _in the crowd_."

"Hm?" Nonon replied, "Was there something wrong with someone in the crowd?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure ou-" Satsuki cut herself short when her eyes caught the problem. Up in the top row of the bleachers was a girl in a black sailor uniform-ish top that was solid black, lined with red, left part of her belly exposed, but only a little, and a matching red-lined skirt that was roughly the length of the one that Satsuki was wearing right now (only a little longer), and was held up by suspenders that ran underneath the girl's skirt. The girl herself had pitch black hair, save for one strand that was a bloody red, and was gel'd up or something, because it swooped up perfectly and over to her left. Satsuki also made quick observation of her rather noticeable breast size, at least compared to Satsuki's, but shook herself back to reality. She appeared to be asleep with a book over her face, and was intent on staying that way, even with everyone gone and out of the bleachers.

Satsuki's blood began to boil, and she was keen on rectifying this insolence immediately. "Nonon!" She exclaimed, causing Nonon to clasp her hand over her right ear, which was facing Satsuki.

"Ow! Yeah, what?" Nonon inquired as she rubbed her ear.

"Get Hōka, and make it snappy!" Satsuki ordered.

"Aww," Nonon whined, "why do I have to go track down The Dog?"

Satsuki shot her a look that told her she was serious, and Nonon sighed, saluted, then left for the gymnasium. In the meantime, Satsuki began her march up the bleachers, to attend to this delinquent.

Satsuki's cheerleading shoes clacked against the cold metal of the bleachers with every step, as Satsuki drew ever near to the girl. She was contemplating every single way she could chew this girl out, and was already brainstorming ideas that she would require Hōka's aid with, but shoved those into a separate section of her mind, as she realized that she was towering over the girl before she knew it. Although she couldn't see the girl's face, she felt something bizarre when she was around this girl…something she had never quite felt before…Again, she shook herself back to her senses, and re-focused on the task at hand. She shook the girl's shoulder, causing the girl to stir.

The girl lifted the book (which, upon Satsuki's further inspection, turned out to be a manga that Satsuki herself had been reading) off of her face, revealing it to Satsuki.

For once in her lifetime, Satsuki was at a loss for words; this girl's facial features were an absolute spectacle. Her ocean blue eyes emanated an aura of serenity, but, like the ocean, also displayed an aura of willpower, and the ability to change tones in an instant. Her nose was as cute as a button, and her lips looked so tender and soft. She also smelled divine, like hot tea, Satsuki's favorite essence.

The girl gave Satsuki a once-over, chuckled, and said in a sleepy tone, "Huh, if Heaven's angels are this beautiful, I should have no problem here…" and placed the book back over her face. Her voice was strong, and empowering, but calming at the same time.

Satsuki felt a twitch somewhere in her (a place in her chest that she believed to be her heart), upon the word '_beautiful_', but shook it off and simply stated, "Wake up, delinquent!" as she took the manga off of the girl's face, and thumped her on the head with it.

"Ow!" the girl exclaimed as she fell from her sleeping position, to one that had her lying on the bleacher's floor, looking straight up at Satsuki, her feathery hair sprawled across the ground beneath her head. She rubbed her forehead where she was hit, then scrambled to her feet, where she came up to about Satsuki's shoulders, and said, "What the hell was that for?!"

Satsuki grunted and replied, "The pep rallies' over, everyone's gone."

The girl looked around, and saw nothing but the empty football field (save for the pom-pons of Nonon and Satsuki), and the empty bleachers. Satsuki grunted at the girl's ignorance, but couldn't help but think she was adorable when she was clueless.

"Oh, wow…" The girl marveled at the emptiness of the bleachers, "I _really _need to get more sleep…"

"I can't disagree with you on that one…" Satsuki replied in a condescending tone.

The girl rolled her eyes at Satsuki's droll attitude, and then reached down and produced a one-strap black bag that was dotted with pins from various bands and such, and shoved her manga into one of the convenient pockets. She then slung the bag over her her right shoulder, and said, "Well, I guess I should be thanking you. Otherwise, I might have been spending the night there, eh?"

While the girl chuckled, Satsuki just shrugged and replied, "Don't be stupid; someone would've eventually-" but she was cut short by the girl giving her a quick, but tight and meaningful, hug. Satsuki was unable to fight back, as the girl had caught her when her arms were at her sides, and refused to scream out of how undignified it was. She simply stood there, and took it; but…she didn't entirely hate it…in fact, in the few seconds it lasted, she found herself enjoying it quite a bit actually.

After about seven seconds, the girl broke the embrace, gave Satsuki a smile, and began to bolt down the bleachers. Satsuki just stood there in awe of what just happened. She turned around and exclaimed after the girl, "**HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT'S**…_Your…_name…" trailing off with every word, Satsuki found herself mimicking the gesture that was just performed on her, holding herself tight as she walked down the bleachers, and onto the football field where Hōka and Nonon sat on a bench awaiting her arrival.

"You know," Hōka began as Satsuki drew close, and he unzipped the turtleneck that covered his mouth on his navy blue track suit, "I know it's winter, and those uniforms are skimpy, but I don't think it's at the point where you have to hold yourself." he zipped up his turtleneck again. Typical Hōka…he had been performing this behavior since he was a kid, and wasn't about to stop.

Satsuki snapped out of it, straightened up, then looked down at Hōka as he pushed his icy, teal locks out of his face and adjusted his cyan blue tinted glasses, and inquired, "Was that remark really necessary?"

"No, I suppose not," Hōka replied as he placed his laptop bag on his lap and began to unzip it, "but I have to do some things of my own volition, don't I?"

Satsuki shrugged at his response, and Nonon moaned, "Jeez Satsuki, put a leash on this dog!"

"I could say the same thing for you, Cotton Candy Hair." Hōka retorted as he pulled out his slimline, black laptop, and opened it, the screen lighting up, and abuzz with all sorts of programs and data running in the background.

"Children," Satsuki said to the duo, "cease this fighting at once!"

Hōka and Nonon broke their vicious eye contact, and resumed their normal postures. Hōka adjusted his glasses again, and said, "Nonon informs me that you have a student that requires dealing with?"

Satsuki thought about it for a minute, and remembered how beautiful the girl was, how kind she was, and how warm and inviting that hug felt. "Not exactly 'dealt with' per say," Satsuki began as she looked off into the distance, "I just need you to do a little research on her, that's all."

"Say no more," Hōka replied as he pulled up a program that bore the school's emblem, and was merely a search bar at the opening screen, "give me a name and I'll tell you what this girl eats for breakfast in the morning."

Satsuki opened her mouth to speak, but then remembered, "That I unfortunately cannot provide, as I don't know it." Satsuki stated.

"I see…" Hōka responded as he crossed his arms and thought for a moment. He snapped his fingers, then began clacking away at his computer for a moment. Any time that Nonon tried to sneak a peek at what he was doing, he moved to a position where his screen wasn't within her peripheral vision. After about thirty seconds or so, Hōka inquired, "You know what she looks like, I assume?"

Satsuki turned her attention back to Hōka, and replied, "Of course."

"Excellent." Hōka said as he placed his fingers on his home row keys, "Then we'll simply run a physical check, and pull her up from there."

"Huh," Nonon sighed, "so The Dog _can _do something right…"

Hōka just sighed at Nonon's remark, then listened carefully as Satsuki rattled off the girl's physical description. He was mildly surprised, though, at Satsuki's impressive memory of this girl she had just met. However, he dismissed it as Satsuki just being Satsuki. Once her description was finished, Hōka waited for a second or two while the program loaded the results, and then did a few clicks on his track pad, then spun his laptop around and displayed a picture of the girl that Satsuki had just met. There was some personal information to the right, but Satsuki only inquired,

"Her name, what's her name?"

"Ryuko Matoi." Hōka replied, "Grade: Junior, Age: Seventeen, Her schedule is listed below, and she has no affiliation with any school clubs whatsoever. Address: Unknown."

"What do you mean, _Unknown_?" Nonon inquired, as she rested her head on top of Hōka's.

Hōka looked up, contemplated hitting Nonon, but decided against it for some reason he couldn't figure out at the moment. "What I mean," he began, "is that she has no address logged within the school or the city's files."

"Impossible." Satsuki replied as put her hands on her hips, "She was wearing a rather ornate outfit when we met, I'm positive that-"

"You mean, _this outfit_?" Hōka inquired as he flipped his laptop around again and revealed an album of Ryuko. In every single picture, she was wearing that same sailor uniform that she had just been wearing when Satsuki had just met her, moments ago. Satsuki raised her thick, black eyebrows at this one, and leaned in to view the photos. "The database logs her photos all the way back to first grade," Hōka continued as Satsuki scanned the images with her eyes, "and in each one, she's wearing this same uniform."

"What're you getting at, Dog?" Nonon inquired as she poked Hōka's face (_well, the exposed half of his head above his upper lip that wasn't covered by the turtleneck, but you get the picture…_).

Hōka grabbed Nonon's hand and pushed it off of him, and hung his head low for a moment, but raised it up as he gave Satsuki a nod and replied, "Nothing just yet, we don't have enough data."

"Whaddya mean?" Nonon said in a prodding tone, "What happened to Mr. 'I'll Tell You What She Eats For Breakfast'? Huh?"

Hōka's temper rose with each movement of Nonon's jaw that he felt, but again, dismissed it, and responded, "I could do that with any _normal _person. This girl is far from normal from what I'm gathering."

"Hōka" Satsuki said as she asserted her full height above Hōka, "a question, if I may."

"Of course." Hōka replied as he gazed up to Satsuki.

"You still control the Newspaper Club, am I correct?" Satsuki inquired.

Hōka smiled cockily as he unzipped his turtleneck and said, "I'm way ahead of you." as he whipped out his phone and revealed that it had iMessage opened, and had a small conversation going. "I just texted the head of the Newspaper Club, he'll have his underlings monitor this girl with precision and discretion, and gather everything we can. At least by the end of the day."

"Excellent." Satsuki replied with a small grin. She then broadened her glance to include Nonon and said, "We meet after school in the usual place."

"The usual time, I assume?" Nonon inquired.

"_Immediately after school_." Satsuki reiterated, "And I mean it."

Hōka and Nonon shivered at Satsuki's sharper-than-usual tone, but both rose up, and gave a nod of acknowledgement. Satsuki responded with her own nod and said, "I'll go pass the word on to Uzu and Ira, you two get to your classes." as she began to walk back to the school. She was halfway across the football field when she called, "_And remember! Don't be late!_"

Hōka and Nonon once again nodded, and Satsuki left, fading into the distance.

When she was gone, Nonon sat down next to Hōka, and said, "Something must be _really _important about this girl for Satsuki to chase after her like this. Huh?"

Hōka adjusted his glasses and said, "There is one thing I can't figure out though that I know Satsuki is probably wondering, as well."

Nonon cocked her head to the side and inquired, "And that would be…?"

"What on Earth would an junior be doing at the senior's pep rally when there were specific directions and instructions?" Hōka inquired as he crossed his arms and gazed up to the sky.

"Maybe she's just scatterbrained?" Nonon suggested.

"Could be…" Hōka concurred, "or something else that I'm thinking of…but that's for another time…"

Nonon jeered at Hōka's secrecy, but lightened up when she inquired, "So, why do you think Satsuki's so hellbent on finding this chick?"

Hōka once again adjusted his glasses, sat back, unzipped his turtleneck and replied, "I have two theories."

"Really?" Nonon inquired, "You actually _thought_?"

Hōka couldn't help but chuckle at Nonon's jab, and said, "I'll pretend like I didn't hear that…" Nonon frowned in response, but Hōka interpreted it as a playful one, and continued, "the first one is that Satsuki's objective is one of justification; nothing more, nothing less. And Satsuki merely wants to reprimand this delinquent."

"And the other one?" Nonon inquired as she began to pack up her bag.

Hōka was silent for a minute, which caught Nonon's attention. He stared off into space, then straightened his glasses by pushing up on the bridge of them with his right index and middle fingers, and said, "Cross that bridge when we get there." and with that he swiftly packaged up his laptop, stood up, faced the wind as it dramatically wafted through both his and Nonon's hair, and walked off.

"Hey!" Nonon called after him. But Hōka's unflappable demeanor was not broken by such a call. Though Hōka did feel a bizarre twinge of pain in his chest with each of Nonon's calls he ignored. After realizing that it was no use, Nonon just sat down, defeated, but infinitely more curious than when the original conversation began.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Uzu Sanageyama, the proud captain of the Fencing Club. He stood alone in the Fencing Club clubroom, which was fairly empty to begin with. It was just an open room that had blue wrestling pads on the floor and wall, a few racks for the fencing swords, some dummies, and a drinking fountain in the corner whose water had a taste more akin to poison than to that of tap water. Uzu struck swift blow after swift blow, with lightning speed and assassin-like precision. After assuring himself that the dummy was truly 'dead', he took a break. He sheathed his sword, then wiped his brow, lifting his feathery, dark green locks off of his fog gray eyes. He straightened out the white collar (that already came up to his eyes) of his body length white jacket that he wore all the time, in order to milk as much of its length as he could, then dusted off his cadet-blue vest underneath, and chuckled as he called to the empty room,

"Did you honestly think that you could sneak up on me, Satsuki?"

Satsuki stepped forth from behind one of the mats and replied, "Please, Uzu…" in a droll tone. "If I wanted to sneak up on you, you wouldn't know until it was," she deftly kicked up one of the swords from off of the fencing rack, pointed it at Uzu's back, and continued, "too late."

Uzu chuckled a cocky chuckle as he turned around, his hands still tucked in the pockets of his white pants. "Level with me, Satsuki," Uzu said in that cool and collected voice of his, "what brings you here today? If it's the demonstration, then I'm afraid your perfect punctuality record has been tarnished."

"I didn't come to watch your practice," Satsuki replied, still training the sword on Uzu, "nor engage in witty banter."

"But you knew the banter was kind of inherent with treading upon my domain, no?" Uzu inquired as he gestured first towards the clubroom and then towards himself by placing his hand on his chest. Satsuki flashed him her usual frown, and Uzu merely stepped forward, pushed the blade aside and said, "Alright, I'll bite. What?"

"I merely came to inform you of a meeting." Satsuki replied as she tossed the sword aside.

"Is it that time of the week already?" Uzu sarcastically inquired as he strutted over and picked up the sword Satsuki had discarded.

Satsuki sighed and replied, "I mean _today_."

Uzu stowed the sword in its proper place on the rack, and said, "Calm down, calm down," he spun around and began to saunter over to Satsuki, "just having a little fun." Satsuki bore no amusement at Uzu's antics, and as he drew ever closer, he rolled his eyes as he replied, "Oh yeah, you don't know what that's like…"

Uzu and Satsuki were now mere inches apart, and Uzu's height difference to Satsuki was glaringly evident. The top of Satsuki's head came up to Uzu's nose, and she often found herself looking up to him (physically) whenever they spoke. Uzu traced the outline of Satsuki's face, and then gave her a little 'boop' on the nose, complete with sound effect. Upon that gesture, Satsuki raised her left arm and swatted away Uzu's hand, then shoved him back onto the mat.

As Uzu laid there, sprawled out, he chuckled once again as he got on his feet and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You're on _that _side of the fence."

"And I'll never cross over to the other," Satsuki replied, standing confident as ever, "nothing personal, Sanageyama."

"Yep, that's me," Uzu said as he strutted over in a circle around Satsuki, "Uzu Sana-_gey_-ama."

Satsuki allowed a smile to cross her face at that one, much to Uzu's delight, as he exclaimed, "See, I made you smile. Redemption, right?!"

"All I want to know is how long you've been waiting to use that one against me…" Satsuki replied, permitting herself to chuckle.

Uzu shrugged and flashed a devilish smile, letting Satsuki know that he probably just made it up on the spot.

"Now, my dear Satsuki," Uzu said as he drew closer once again, but this time, keeping himself at least a sword's distance between him and Satsuki, "if you would be so kind as to elucidate on the subject of this ambiguous congregation I would be more than delighted to offer my attendance."

Satsuki once again sighed, and replied, "You'll be attending either way, so what good does it serve you?"

Uzu shrugged his head, and responded, "It does me good to know so I can anticipate future happenings."

Satsuki frowned even deeper than she already was, and said, "You always were cocky…"

"Goes to show that you can't change me." Uzu retorted, eliciting a nod of acknowledgment from Satsuki.

"It concerns a certain…person…" Satsuki trailed off as she fixated her gaze on the blank space behind Uzu.

"Oh? Who?" Uzu inquired.

Satsuki snapped back to reality, and shakily answered, "Ever heard of a girl called 'Ryuko Matoi'?"

Uzu thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "Not really…why? What's it of significance to you?"

For a split second, Uzu could swear he saw Satsuki stiffen up at that inquiry, and he wasn't about to let this one go, but Satsuki was, as she answered, "Nothing really."

Uzu scoffed at that statement, and stated, "She must be _something_, or else we wouldn't be having a meeting about her!"

Satsuki raised her hand, silencing Uzu instantly. She lowered it and said, "I already have Hōka and his newspaper goons investigating her with 'discretion and precision' as he so fervently put it. _Immediately_ after school, you are to report to the usual meeting place, where we will discuss a course of action. Understood?"

Uzu nodded in acknowledgment, and Satsuki followed suit. She cast a glance at her watch and said, "Damn! I have to get going to class!" She looked back up at Uzu and said, "Pass the word on to Ira, immediately! I have to go!"

Uzu bowed and replied, "At once, m'lady!"

Satsuki rolled her eyes at Uzu's over-formailty, and began to rush out, when she passed Uzu's bag. She picked a pair of thin, black-framed glasses off from the top and flung them at him.

With superhuman-like speed, Uzu snatched the glasses out of the air like a fly, and snickered as he said, "I always hated these things…"

"Because they got in the way of your fencing?" Satsuki inquired as she placed her hand on the clubroom door handle.

"No," Uzu replied as he began twiddling his glasses in his right hand, "because I can see better without them."

Satsuki sighed once more before heading out of the door, and slamming it behind her.

Uzu waited until Satsuki was gone before he bursted out laughing. Anyone going by most likely thought he was going mad, but he couldn't remember a time when he had been more thoroughly entertained. After a laughing fit that lasted several minutes, he straightened up and said to himself, "Oh, Satsuki…never honest with yourself…"

And with that, he slid his glasses into his pocket, picked up his dark-green backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and left the clubroom himself.

His destination: the football field.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ira Gamagōri towered over the rest of the underlings in the football field. They ruthlessly tackled the dummies, one after another as Ira shrieked, "MORE FORCE!", motivating them to slam the dummies harder and harder. The clash of helmets and body armor echoed throughout the air, and over the open football field.

After several more minutes of this, Ira gave the signal for the team to stop. They screeched to a halt in their tracks, and called, "Sir, yes sir?!" in unison.

"Excellent work today, team!" Ira said as he took off his helmet, allowing his dirty blonde hair to fall back to its original length. He kept it at a proper length so he could comb it back, but he always left the back as short as he could possibly have it. He claimed it improved his aerodynamic ability, others just think he did it because it's the cheapest thing at the barber shop.

"Club, dismissed!" He exclaimed as the rest of the club saluted, and then rushed off in an orderly formation to the locker room.

Ira was about to follow when he heard an all-to-familiar snicker behind him. He turned to see Uzu sitting on the bench, with his left foot on the ground and his right on the bench. He was leaning on his right kneecap as he whipped his head to get his hair out of his face and called, "So you _are_ as good off the field as you are on." Uzu shrugged as he continued, "Who'd've thought, eh? By the way, I must compliment you for moving all of the equipment from out front to here in the back in such a short amount of time. Props to you, for what it's worth..."

Ira nodded, and began to walk towards Uzu as he said, "I wish I could say the same for you, Uzu." with a sly smirk of his own.

"Oooh, big tough guy now, eh?" Uzu facetiously replied as he reached into his backpack, which was on the ground to his right, and produced a bottle of water. "Well, bigger than usual, I guess…" Uzu added as Ira sat down.

"And what draws you away from the Fencing arena, Uzu?" Ira inquired as Uzu handed him a bottle of water. "Come to see what a real man's sport looks like?"

Uzu took a drink from his water bottle and screwed the cap on as he replied, "I would be asking you the same thing if you set foot in the Fencing Club. That is, if you could fit through the door…"

Ira scoffed as he said, "What happened to all those petitions I put in for the school to increase its clearance?"

Uzu chuckled as he replied, "I guess the vote total came up a bit…_short_." he burst out laughing, and Ira followed suit.

When the two calmed down, Uzu took another swig of his water and said, "If you must know what brings me here, I have news from Satsuki."

Ira's curiosity was thoroughly peaked at the mention of Satsuki's name. "She sent you to get me?"

"Not so much to retrieve your presence," Uzu eloquently replied, "more over to inform you of your mandatory attendance to a meeting of critical importance."

"Cut that fancy work junk, Uzu," Ira responded as he began to take another drink, "it hurts my head…"

Uzu put his hands up in front of him and said, "Alright, alright…Satsuki wants you at a meeting that's going down _immediately_ after school."

"Everyone else is coming, I presume?" Ira stated as he set his water bottle down on the ground next to him.

Uzu chugged the last of the water left in his bottle and nonchalantly tossed the bottle behind him as he replied, "Yep. Nonon, Hōka, Satsuki, and I. The whole nine yards, buddy."

"If you're so informed," Ira prodded, "then what is this meeting's topic?"

Uzu's smile broadened, and turned devilish in nature as he stated, "A certain person…a certain _girl_ to be precise."

Ira tensed up, his attention was now undivided, and he was anxiously awaiting every word Uzu was about to say. "Satsuki took notice of another girl?"

Uzu turned to Ira with that smile like a Cheshire Cat and said, "That's what I thought too." _'Although,'_ Uzu thought to himself, _'I think we're traveling different thought trains here, buddy…'_

Ira pounded his fist into the palm of his right hand and said, "Satsuki must have it in for this girl…I must dealt with her at once!"

As Ira rose up, Uzu shot his arm up and grabbed his football uniform, lowering him back to the bench. "Whoa, whoa man," Uzu said as he dragged Ira down, "How're you gonna deal with her when you don't even know her name?!"

Ira had a moment of realization, and stated, "Oh, you're right…" after he calmed down a bit, he inquired, "And, what would that name be?"

"Ryuko Matoi." Uzu replied as he leaned back, "A junior from what I've heard."

"Ryuko Matoi, eh…?" Ira inquired of himself as he stared up at the gray sky. "What do you think, Uzu?"

Uzu chuckled as he replied, "You think whatever I'm gonna say is gonna be right?"

"Not really," Ira responded, "let's say I'm just soliciting you for feedback to build my own theories off of."

"Ooh, fancy way of replying there, Ira," Uzu noted, "I like it!"

"You hang around one person long enough, they grow on you." Ira explained.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Uzu responded as he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his right shoulder.

"So, your thoughts?" Ira inquired.

"I have two," Uzu replied, "my primary one is that it's purely a quest to reprimand her or something. I only think this because she's elicited enough of a response from Satsuki to cause her to send Hōka's newspaper goons after her. However, given recent development, that one's losing ground every minute…"

"Losing ground…?" Ira said to himself, "And the other one?"

Uzu chuckled as he rose up and mumbled something inaudible, then began to walk away.

"Wait!" Ira called after Uzu, "What did you just say?!"

Uzu waved his hand back at Ira and called back, "All in due time, my friend!" as he walked through the doors into the high school he mumbled to himself, "_All in due time…_"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: Well, how was that for an opening chapter? Pardon any inconsistencies or any flaws so far, I hope to improve this story as it goes along. But, hey, I enjoy writing for you guys, so, I hope you enjoy reading!_

_If you have any questions, comments, or complaints, feel free for write a review containing them, or PM me; I'm an open guy! And if you really enjoyed this piece, then I hope you drop it a follow and a favorite! And while you're at it, why not follow me to keep up with any updates?!_

_Again, if you've read this far, then thank you. Even if you didn't, thanks for your time for whatever small/medium/big part that you read! And if you didn't even read this at all, then you probably won't see this…but thanks for patronizing FanFiction! (I'm pathetic aren't I?…)_

_New chapters will release every other week, by the way. But every week when I don't publish a chapter here, I'll publish one in my other fiction over in the AoT/SnK section of FF, **"High School**** Daze"** so go check that one out if you enjoy this piece.  
_

_Well, you're probably sick of reading my pointless drivel, so have a great day/month/year of your life, and I'll see you next time!_


	2. The Meeting

_A/N: I cannot __**begin**__ to thank you all for the warm response that you guys have given to this fic. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope to continue writing for you amazing people! I had a __**LOT **__of fun reading the kind reviews from ExtremeEly23, Eisenwald, and FoxOnPie (AKA everyone who wrote a review), but I also appreciate everyone who favorited and followed. _

_Apologies if I'm being overly sentimental, but I just can't help it, you know? It's a crazy feeling the plenty of you probably are used to but, I'm not, so, I guess I have this tendency to fly off on tangents like this. _

_Anyways, if you'll remember correctly last time was the rounding up of Satsuki's Elite Four for a special meeting to be held on the topic of Ryuko Matoi; the strange junior Satsuki's taken notice of. With Hōka's goons' investigation complete, what did they gather? And what does Satsuki want anyways?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"And that's all we know…" Hōka finished as he struck a key on his keyboard, closing the presentation. As the lights came back up in the empty computer lab/lounge/meeting place, Nonon shook herself awake, Gamagōri gazed over the rest of the group with a look that oozed discipline, and Uzu chuckled from his kicked-back position.

Satsuki gave Hōka a nod, who returned the favor and returned to his seat. His seat was one of the many finely padded lounge chairs that were supposed to be used as furniture for this space. Halfway through the year construction on a coffee shop/lounge at Stonewall was halted due to protests from some environmental group that claimed it would be inhumane or something. No one knows the true details, but everyone liked that story because it gave them an excuse to berate the weird hippie kids that sat out in the garden during lunch and hugged the bushes or some shit.

However, for what it was worth, it was shaping up to be a respectable little lounge. The framework of the coffee shop could be seen, as well as the tables (un-complete and complete), and the stands for the computers. Nowadays, people avoid that area because they're afraid that the hippie kids are going to turn them into a dandelion or something, but that served Satsuki and her 'Elite Four', as she had become accustomed to calling them nowadays, just fine. It kept things private, and gave them room to discuss.

"Are you _sure_ that's everything that you know, Hōka?" Satsuki inquired in an unamused tone from her chair which was raised on top of some planks.

Hōka sighed a sigh of sorrow as he replied, "Unfortunately, that's all that my Newspaper Club spies could gather."

Uzu snickered and called out to Hōka, "What happened to '_precision and discretion'_, Hōka?" Hōka shot Uzu an icy glare, and Uzu laughed out, "Ooh, I can _actually _see the fiery hatred in those icy blue eyes of yours!"

Hōka huffed indignantly, and stifled his seething frustration as he replied, "Though they may be the most elite junior detectives this academy has to offer, they all fall to the same blow…"

"Oh, well," Nonon sighed, "The Dog can always find more Puppies, I suppose…"

"They're not dead, idiot!" Hōka snapped at Nonon who was all the way to his right, "Matoi just caught them in the act and kicked them all in the groin!"

Nonon burst out laughing, followed by Uzu, and Gamagōri permitted himself a light chuckle at the incompetence of Hōka's goons.

"How did they get caught?" Satsuki inquired as she raised an eyebrow.

Hōka frantically looked left and right, catching the attention of the rest of the Elite Four. After a minute or two, he grumbled out, "They…went through her…locker in the Girl's Locker Room…"

If the rest of the Elite Four hadn't busted a gut laughing before, they sure did this time. Hōka did his best to attempt to intimidate them into shutting up, to no avail.

"Satsuki," Nonon giggled out, "I don't see how you deal with this Dog, when he can't even keep a leash on his own Puppies!"

Satsuki clapped her hands several times, calming the group immediately, and then rested her hands on the armrests of her chair and heaved out a heavy sigh. "Such incompetence from the lesser people…" she muttered.

Uzu noticed the dark mood shrouding the group, and stood up as he said, "Hey c'mon," he began, "it's not a total loss. We got some information, and that's all we need, right?"

"Perhaps…" Satsuki thought out loud as she rubbed her right temple.

"Look, we got the important stuff," Uzu continued, drawing the attention of the rest of the group (even Nonon), "age, height, address, or lack thereof, and all that good stuff."

"What're you getting at, Monkey?" Nonon inquired, obviously unamused.

Uzu chuckled as he replied, "I'm glad you asked that, Nonon. Now, inherent within all that information is her class schedule, am I correct?" he looked over to Hōka who nodded in reply. "Excellent," Uzu continued, "then I propose we go on with my plan."

Gamagōri raised one of his massive hands and Uzu pointed to it and declared, "Yes, you, tall, dark, and…" Uzu gave Gamagōri a once over before continuing, "tall…"

Gamagōri gave Uzu a death look, but nonetheless continued, "And what exactly would be your plan, Uzu?"

"An unusually excellent inquiry from a one Mr. Gamagōri!" Uzu exclaimed as he began to waltz around the room.

Gamagōri felt somewhat honored at Uzu's compliment, but brushed it off as he said, "I shall repeat, Sanageyama, what is your plan?"

"You know, Ira, reiteration gets you nowhere…" Uzu said in a droll tone as he placed both hands on Nonon's shoulders and leaned on them.

"_Satsuki…_" Nonon began to say. You could practically see the steam of fury coming off of her.

"Uzu, don't waste what precious time we have," Satsuki said as she rubbed her temples, "out with it…"

Uzu snickered as he went on to say, "Glad to see _someone _finally asked…"

Gamagōri shot a deadly look to Uzu, who took his hands off of Nonon to give a dishonest shrug. "What was that old saying? If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself?"

"Elucidate." Satsuki boomed, "_Now_."

"Easy, easy, I'm getting to it." Uzu stated as put his hands up and waved them up and down in a calming motion. "Now, like I said, we have her class schedule right? So why not use that to our advantage?"

The group, Satsuki inclusive, looked at one another with looks of confusion. "Make sense, Monkey." Nonon moaned as she hung her head in confusion and frustration.

"Gladly…_Snake_." Uzu said with an almost evil emphasis on the word 'snake'.

Nonon felt her frustration overpower her confusion and quickly boil to the point of fury. As she went to leap out of her seat to attack Uzu, Hōka and Ira reacted with catlike reflexes and held her back to the best of their ability. As she kicked, screamed, and writhed in a feeble attempt to break free from their hold over her, Uzu chuckled as he stated,

"Oh that's right…you hate that nickname." Nonon's writhing intensified, and Uzu teased her by getting just beyond kicking distance from her. "Did I forget that?" Uzu inquired of himself in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, silly me…" Nonon's hair had fallen from it's original tied-up style from all of her struggling, and her vibrant pink bangs now hung in her face, parted at erratic intervals.

"_**That's enough!**_" Satsuki exclaimed, capturing everyone's attention, "I have had it up to _here_ with your childish antics!" Satsuki continued as she stood up and crossed her arms, "You are supposed to be elites! The ones I come to when I need a job done properly, not when I need a free migraine! You are supposed to be the best this school has to offer, the Elite Four, but right now you're behaving like the Four Devas!"

Satsuki's final words echoes throughout the barren room, and everyone slowly stopped what they were doing. Uzu still had a grin like Cheshire Cat adorning his face, but at least he looked respectable with it on while he stood in his current position. Ira straightened up to perfect posture, Hōka followed suit, but not before giving a final glance to Nonon, who was still giving Uzu a death glare out of the corner of her eye.

"That's at least somewhat better…" Satsuki said in a somewhat amused tone. "Now, Uzu," she said turning to the green-haired trickster, "if you could deliver your brilliant plan without behaving like a wisecracking 5 year-old then I believe that we could make some progress…"

"With pleasure." Uzu eloquently stated as he took a formal bow and gave a snicker to the rest of the Elite Four, who retaliated with looks of fury and annoyance. "Now," Uzu began as he resumed his strut around the room, "as previously stated, we have her class schedule. So, I propose that we, the Elite Four, insert ourselves into her classes throughout the day, and gather information on her ourselves!"

Satsuki smirked at Uzu's brave declaration, and replied, "You always were good for a quick fix…"

Uzu shrugged as he kicked a piece of insulation that was on the ground. "What can I say?" he continued, brimming with self-confidence, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

"I thought you said," Nonon began, "'If you want something right, do it yourself.'" she said as she imitated Uzu's voice.

Uzu opened his mouth to make a crack at Nonon, but he froze right as he was about to speak. Mouth still agape, he looked left, and right, scanning the entire perimeter.

"What's wrong?" Nonon inquired in a sarcastic tone, "Did the Monkey forget how to speak?"

"No, but he would appreciate it if the Snake forgot how to…" Uzu muttered under his breath. As Nonon opened her mouth to scream, Uzu hurried over and clasped his hand over Nonon's mouth as he whispered,

"Shhh!" as he kept his head pointed towards the entrance, his eyes closed the entire time.

"What is it, Uzu?" Hōka inquired out of genuine curiosity.

After several seconds, Uzu opened his eyes and quietly replied, "Someone's coming. Hide."

While the rest of the Elite Four gave Uzu looks of confusion, Satsuki closed her eyes for a second, and stated, "Uzu doesn't lie, someone is fast on the approach."

Upon those words, the Elite four scrambled to their separate hiding places. Uzu did a quick 180 and ducked behind a stack of planks, laying down in the process. Nonon went with Hōka over to where the computer desks were, and ducked underneath one with Hōka. Hōka noted the bizarre air that seemed to float between the two, since they were shoulder to shoulder, but quickly dismissed it as a natural phenomenon. Ira ducked behind the unfinished counter that was barely tall enough for him to hide behind. Had it not been for his short haircut, he would've been exposed. Satsuki's was perhaps the most deft act of hiding one could have witnessed; she stood straight up and front flipped off of her perch, where she landed on a patch of insulation so that her shoes wouldn't make a thud. She then dashed over to a nearby shelf, and ducked around behind it, peering her head around the corner to see who their intruder was.

As the sound of footsteps drew near, the entire Elite Four was ready to pounce. Satsuki was ready to dole out a sharp scolding and a few swift blows if she encountered opposition, but was ready to use that only as a last resort.

Satsuki was almost about to pounce when she saw who their visitor was, and her jaw dropped to the floor.

There, stood in the doorway with another girl, was Ryuko Matoi.

Ryuko was still dressed in that stunning sailor-esque uniform of hers while her friend was dressed in an actual sailor's uniform; complete with blue trim and everything. Hers also exposed her belly, but her skirt was slightly longer than Ryuko's. She had a bright smile on her face (almost annoyingly bright), and brown eyes whose color was akin to chocolate.

Ryuko had a reluctant smile on her face as she droned, "C'mon Mako, why'd you drag me here?"

"You said you were looking for a new place to sleep, right?" Mako retorted in a bright and bubbly tone.

Ryuko clasped her hand over Mako's mouth as she sharply replied, "Not here! What if somebody heard you?"

"Mmmfmfmmfmf" A muffled Mako replied. Ryuko took her hand off of her mouth and Mako repeated, "Impossible! No one else could possibly be here!"

Satsuki could almost hear Uzu chuckling at that one, but shook her head as she pulled out her phone from her back pocket, and contemplated sending a message. She was about to type, when she saw the conversation resuming.

"And anyways, it's a good thing they kicked you off that old place you were sleeping anyways," Mako stated, "I had to go through too much to come and visit you, and the people there always seemed so uptight."

"Yeah, but you can't complain about the scraps, though!" Ryuko retorted, "I ain't gonna find food like that anywhere else!"

_'She has a little bit of a drawl…' _Satsuki thought to herself, _'…cute…' _she momentarily allowed herself to think before dismissing the thought.

"Oh, you'll be fine!" Mako replied as she patted Ryuko's shoulder, "I'll bring an extra lunch to school and you can eat it later!"

"I can't do that!" Ryuko said as she plopped her bag on the ground and went over to a nearby pile of planks and sat down. The exact same pile that Uzu was hiding behind. "I'd be puttin' your family out and I'd feel like a freeloading parasite!"

"You shouldn't think like that," Mako replied, "it's not cute!"

"The hell should I care if what I say's cute or not?" Ryuko said as she chuckled a little bit.

"Because," Mako began, "if you're not cute, you'll never find a guy that's right for you!"

Satsuki felt a twinge in her stomach at those words, but she wasn't sure why.

"Pl-ease," Ryuko responded as she smirked, "me? Interested in a guy? You know I only go for girls."

Satsuki felt both her heart begin to pound, and her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket at those words. She stirred herself away from her own fantasy she was engulfed in and checked the message. It was from Uzu, and it read:

**What an…interesting development.**

Satsuki could practically see the gears turning in Uzu's head, as she listened on.

"Oh yeah," Mako replied as she sat down next to Ryuko, "I forgot…"

Ryuko chuckled as she patted her friend's head, "You forgot what you learned in Alg 2 this morning…"

"Oh well," Mako sighed, "any girl would be lucky to have you, Ryuko!"

Ryuko blushed a little bit at that statement, and replied, "Jeez, ya think so?"

"Of course!" Mako beamed before grabbing onto Ryuko's breasts, "After all, look at these things!"

Ryuko wailed at that, and immediately swatted Mako off before wrapping her arms around herself as a defense.

As the two laughed over that, Mako dropped an inquiry in. "So, are ya gonna sleep here tonight?"

Ryuko put her hands on her knees, and looked around at the vast expanse that was the unfinished lounge. After an examination, she replied, "I suppose…Hell, I ain't got nowhere else to go!"

Mako squealed out of delight, and exclaimed, "Great! You have a new home!"

Ryuko chuckled as she replied, "I'd hardly call this a home, Mako."

Mako was too busy brimming with delight at the fact that she had aided her friend to listen to anything else. "We have to go get your stuff! Don't worry Ryuko! Mako Mankanshoku is on it!"

And with that, Mako dashed out of the lounge at light speed.

"Mako! Wait!" Ryuko exclaimed as she dashed out after Mako, leaving her bag behind.

When the coast was clear, the Elite Four emerged from their hiding spots, and reconvened at the center of the room. No one said anything at first, they just exchanged looks of unsureness and confusion.

After a few minutes, Uzu broke the silence and said, "Alright, alright….I looked up their skirts." with a devilish grin painting his face.

Ira swatted Uzu on the back of the head, and Hōka and Nonon just gave him looks of disappointment.

"As much as I'd like to reprimand you for your actions, Uzu," Satsuki began as she strutted over to Ryuko's backpack, "we have bigger issues facing us."

"Damn right we do," Hōka stated, "do you know how hard it's gonna be to find a new meeting spot?"

"Hōka!" Ira sharply stated, "That is not what Satsuki was referring to!"

"For a genius, you sure are dense…" Uzu droned as he sat down on his stack of planks.

Satsuki picked up Ryuko's backpack and threw it into the middle of the group. "This," she began, "what are we to do about it?"

"I think the answer's obvious," Uzu began, "we check it!"

"Jeez, Monkey," Nonon moaned, "do you have _any _depravity?"

"Not really." Uzu shrugged as he kneeled down to inspect the bag. It was a modest thing; dark gray, not too flashy, no decorations, and nothing much other than that. As Uzu scoped out the bag in its entirety, he then reached for the zipper on the bag's largest compartment, and was about to unzip it when a rather large hand came on top of his. "Ira…" Uzu began before being silenced by Ira.

"Uzu L. Sanageyama," Ira began in his disciplinary tone he used only on his football comrades, "what you are doing is-"

"Deplorable," Uzu filled in, "chicanerous, mischievous," he looked up to Ira with his usual cocksure grin and continued, "I could come up with a whole host of adjectives, we could be here all day."

"Uzu!" Ira shrieked, "Can you live with the fact that you are defiling the property of another human being?! A woman, no less?!"

Uzu stared at the backpack for a minute, feeling the rest of the group's eyes boring into his skin before replying, "Yeah, pretty much." before unzipping the backpack and beginning to rummage through its contents. Hōka rolled his eyes as he too leaned in to inspect that bag's contents.

It was nothing too complicated; textbooks that looked like they had been thoroughly abused, a pocket knife with a plethora of other pointless features, a few bobby pins that were bent such that they could pick locks, basic toiletries, and a few bras and pairs of panties. Uzu inspected a matching pair of underwear that was blue and white striped before feeling a sharp smack on the back of his head. The culprit was none other than Hōka.

"What?!" Uzu exclaimed, "I'm a guy?!"

"A deplorable excuse for one, but one nonetheless…" Hōka replied in a droll tone as he wiped his hand of Uzu's essence on his track sweater.

"Well, despite that," Uzu said as he rubbed the back of his head, "she does have a surprisingly big rack…" Uzu felt another sharp blow on the crown of his head, and he scowled at Hōka.

"Oh no, that one was him." Hōka said as he gestured to Ira who was glaring at Uzu with a look of fury.

"Okay, I get the hint," Uzu said as he placed the matching pair back in the bag, "no more panty-talk."

"You really _don't _have any depravity…" Nonon sighed as she walked over to stand by Satsuki.

"I thought we went over this already." Uzu replied with that devilish smile creeping onto his lips once more. "So, if we're done rummaging through someone else's possessions like a pack of animals," Uzu began as he stood up, his statement earning him many a dirty look from the rest of the group, which he casually shrugged off as he turned his back to them and stood dramatically atop his plank stack, "I say we continue with my brilliant scheme! Yes, our target shall be that enigmatic woman, none other than," he spun around and extended his right arm, pointing his index finger outwards as he exclaimed, "Ryuko Ma-" but he cut himself short as he realized something.

The Elite Four and Satsuki were gone, all of them. They were off hiding somewhere, and the only person who stood before Uzu was none other than Ryuko herself, who looked first at the opened backpack, and then at Uzu in his white jacket with that ridiculously high collar, his spotless white trousers and shabby cadet blue vest underneath.

"too…" Uzu finished as he dropped his hands to his side and his mouth became agape.

"Wha-" Ryuko stuttered out, "Wha-…Who-…" she suddenly regained her balance out of nowhere and a fire glistened in her eyes as she said, "Who the fuck are you?!"

Uzu realized he had been abandoned, and was going to have to handle this on his own means. He flashed that trademark cocksure smile of his as he replied, "I," gesturing to himself, "am the Master of all athletics non-mainstream. The Baron of the Blade, The King of the Cutlass, and the head of the Fencing Club…Uzu Sanagey-OW!" he exclaimed as he felt a sharp pain in his left temple. He put his hand to it to see that blood tainted his fingers. He looked up to see Ryuko twirling a cylindrical piece of wood like a baton in her right hand, and smirking as she said,

"I still got it in me, eh?"

Uzu looked down to see an identical piece of wood laying before him, blood staining the one end of it. He looked at it in horror for a few minutes before regaining his composure and saying, "You know, it's rude to assault a guy before getting to know him."

"Better to assault before than to be too late, in my opinion!" Ryuko retorted as she brought the wooden baton to a halt in her hand. "Now," she began as she leveled the baton with Uzu's head, "what the hell were ya doing with my backpack?"

"Oh," Uzu mused, "a little of this and a little of that." he rolled his shoulders in a playful rhythm, but stopped when he said, "Oh, and by the way" he began as he whipped his head to the left, his voluminous green locks lightly dusting his eyes as they fell, "…D cup…not bad…"

Ryuko snapped at that one, and threw her baton at Uzu. Without so much as moving any other muscles in his body, Uzu deftly snatched the baton out of mid-air, right before it would have made impact with his skull again. "I'm sorry, Miss Matoi," he stated, "you're gonna have to do a _lot_ better than that to trip up Uzu Sanageyama." Ryuko scowled at Uzu's repulsively gargantuan ego, and was about to make a swing on him when Uzu utilized that same superhuman speed to rush her, knock her arm away, and glide on his feet as he eloquently said, "I'll be going now…pardon the intrusion…" as he waltzed off out of the lounge, waving 'goodbye' as he left.

Ryuko scowled at Uzu and then spat in his direction and muttered under her breath, "Cocky, disgusting, fucking pervert…" as she zipped up her bag after taking a quick inventory and making sure all was present and accounted for. She slung the bag over her right shoulder and said to herself, "Whatever…" and as she, too walked out, she asked herself, "where did Mako run off to, anyways?"

Upon Ryuko's exit, the rest of the Elite Four and Satsuki emerged from their hiding areas.

"Excellent hearing there, Satsuki," Nonon commented as she strutted loyally alongside Satsuki as they walked to the center of the room, "that Monkey was so caught up in his own howling that he didn't hear anything else!"

"I can hear you, ya know." Uzu called as he emerged from the doorway to the lounge. The rest of the group scowled at the sight of the fencer, and Uzu shrugged as he said, "Sticks and stones people, sticks and stones…" as he assumed his position in front of Satsuki to the left of Hōka and the right of Ira. Both were equally appalled at his presence.

Satsuki cleared her throat, and said, "Well…that was certainly…" as she trailed off, Hōka piped up and said,

"An interesting…_development_…" as he crossed his arms, and entered deep thought.

Nonon glanced at Hōka and poked him in the side with her left index finger inquired, "Whatcha thinking' about, Doggie?"

Hōka thought about smacking her hand away, but dismissed the notion. He also began to think about how, recently, he had been resisting the urge to harm Nonon; she had actually begun to appear tolerable. In fact, Hōka begun to see her almost...cute. He did his best to make it appear he wasn't so deep in thought about Nonon, and simply replied, "I'm thinking about what we do now that we know that she's…" Hōka lingered on that thought, and gritted his teeth at the very notion to utter the word.

"Homeless…" Ira filled in, an unusual sense of pity tainting his voice.

"It is an interesting development…" Uzu stated as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "and it makes me feel almost guilty about what I did." After a second, he flashed a smirk as he continued, "But, I did say '_almost_'."

In an instant, Satsuki was in front of Uzu. In another instant, she lifted her right leg, and dealt Uzu a heavy blow right in the gut. He got knocked back several feet, and ended up on his face, kissing the linoleum. "That," Satsuki began as she lowered her leg and reassumed her posture, "was for everything you've done in the past few minutes."

Uzu rose to his feet after a few seconds, sputtering out a small cough, and wiping the blood that had begun to stream from the left corner of his mouth. "Cheerleaders always _did_ have the most powerful kicks…" Uzu said as he chuckled and assumed his original position.

"Uzu, if it wasn't for your plans," Satsuki began, "you wouldn't be around."

"Then I guess I'm luck I have a good head on my shoulders, eh?" Uzu mused as he allowed himself to slouch a little bit.

"Keep that up, and see how long that head of yours _stays_ on your shoulders..." Satsuki huffed at the poor excuse for a human being that she had permitted to stand among elites. After a few minutes of letting her repulsion simmer down to severe disgust, she simply said, "Now, your plan?"

"I thought you'd never ask…" Uzu began as he turned to Hōka and inquired, "Have the arrangements been made?"

Hōka frowned at Uzu, and reluctantly held up his phone, displaying a rather official-looking e-mail. "The school has been notified of our collective absences for tomorrow, we'll all be gone on either 'family matters', 'sudden illness', or something to that accord. Also," Hōka reached into his laptop bags and produced 5 identical sheets of paper. They all had a class schedule printed out on them, one that was identical to Ryuko's. "I've taken the liberty of printing out Ryuko's class schedule for all of you. However, only us Elite Four will make direct contact with Miss Matoi."

"Elucidate." Satsuki stated as she accepted the class schedule and began to peruse it.

"You, Satsuki," Hōka explained, "will be watching us from afar in each class. There will be one of us per class, and that's already been predetermined. Uzu takes the first class, Algebra 2, Ira will be on the second, Chemistry, I will take her third class, English 11, and Nonon will take her final class, US History. In each class you'll watch over our efforts and collect the data at the end of each period. And we'll all make one, big collective effort to monitor her over lunch."

"You followed my instructions to a 'T' Hōka," Uzu said in a grateful tone, "I'm thoroughly impressed."

"Don't think that this takes you off of my watch, Hōka," Satsuki stated as she moved her eyes from the schedule to Hōka, "you still tread fairly thin ice."

Hōka recoiled a little bit, but didn't allow it to show. "Me? For what?"

"Your lack of initial information on Ryuko is a disappointment to me," Satsuki explained, "coming from someone who calls himself my Head of Information."

Hōka adjusted his glasses, and replied, "I understand…but will not allow history to repeat itself."

"You'd better not!" Ira declared as he strutted over to Hōka, towering over him.

"Actions from you will not be necessary, Mr. Gamagōri," Hōka coldly stated, not making a moment of eye contact with Ira, "thought I do appreciate your concern."

Ira simply huffed out of indifference and mumbled to himself, "Try to bring a little discipline in and you're shut down instantly…"

Satsuki cleared her throat and said, "_People_." drawing the attention of the bickering foursome. After a long pause, she stated, "This plan has potential…we execute it beginning tomorrow. That is all." With that, she gave the signal for the group to dismiss themselves. As they collectively began to leave, Satsuki halted, and called, "Uzu, and Hōka!" The icy-haired genius and forest-locked fencer stopped dead in their tracks, and slowly turned themselves to face Satsuki. "Stay for a minute," she cooed in an evil tone, "will you?"

The duo hesitantly nodded, and after Nonon and Ira had left, Satsuki stood at attention and declared, "You realize that this brilliant plan is not in and of itself enough to redeem you of your acts of impudence?" she turned to Uzu specifically and inquired, "How was that, Sanageyama? I phrased it in a way I thought you would approve of."

"Since when were you the type to dole out special treatment?" Hōka inquired as he adjusted his glasses, letting the few rays of sunlight that shone through the room catch on the lenses and cast a dazzling flare.

Satsuki shot a silencing look to Hōka, and Uzu chuckled as he cocked his head up and retorted, "Out of mild curiosity, what sort of act would purge us of any doubt you have in us?"

Satsuki tensed up somewhat, but didn't let it show, and replied, "Not only your full cooperation on any of my commands on this operation, but also your cooperation on a separate endeavor of mine."

"I fail to see how a whim of yours will redeem us." Hōka stated.

"My my, Hōka, who taught you such saucy comebacks?" Satsuki inquired in that same droning tone that Hōka had previously utilized on her.

Hōka chuckled as he glanced over to Uzu and said, "I can think of a pretty good suspect…"

Uzu caught Hōka's look and thew his arm around him, much to the latter's discontent, and stated, "I believe it was Ira who told me this one…you hang around someone long enough, they grow on you."

Satsuki flashed a rare smile at that one, and replied, "I see…" in the next instant, that smile turned into a cocky grin, one that even Uzu feared, as he instantly backed off of Hōka, and took a step or two back. "Now," Satsuki began as she grabbed the turtleneck of Hōka's track sweatshirt, and the oh-so high color of Uzu's jacket, and pulled them in close. Hōka was holding his head as far back as his neck allowed him, to maintain a fair distance, Uzu as well, as Satsuki uttered a small chuckle and inquired, "Boys…do you know what my family does for a living?"

The duo simultaneously nervously chuckled, and Uzu stammered out, "Y-y-you know, you never did tell us that, did you?"

"Satsuki," Hōka said, his voice wrought with fear at this rarely seen, and rather determined side of Satsuki, "if ever a more opportunistic time presents itself for you to divulge your family's profession, then by all means, do so, but now, we really should be going…" he began to struggle in a futile attempt to free himself from Satsuki's clutches.

Satsuki uttered a laugh as she stated, "Come now, boys…this won't be nearly as bad as you think…in fact, if all goes well, this will make me _very _happy."

Uzu noted her tone change, and resumed his cocksure tone and he inquired, "Alright, I'll be the one to bite…what are we in for?"

Satsuki smiled broader than ever before, and brought Hōka and Uzu in close as she began to divulge the full details of her plan…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: And so, I decided, that you guys deserve an early release for giving me such an OVERWHELMINGLY FANTASTIC response on the first chapter. I hope I can live up to your expectations!_

_And I must say, to all of you who decided to give this story a follow/favorite/review/all of the above, thank you from the bottom of my heart, it means far more than you could ever know and I hope you'll continue to leave reviews so that I may improve!_

_And now, with Uzu's plan coming to form, and Satsuki bringing her own concoction into the mix, what will happen?! And what does Ryuko have in store for her when her new classmates roll around?! Most importantly, what is this dubious business that Satsuki's family conducts?_

_These answers and more goodness in the next chapter of __**'Lost, but Found'**__!_

_Until next time!_


	3. Uzu's Algebra

_A/N: You guys make me cry out of joy sometimes, ya know that? I can't believe how well you guys are responding to this fic! It may not be much to some of you, or compared to other fictions, but it's all a new experience to me. You know, people appreciating the work you do…I'm not used to that in my life._

_It's just, all my life, I've been put down, discriminated, and generally forgotten and ignored…I'm not the best looking guy by any measure, no girl would ever want me (or, at least, most girls), and the few friends I have are my family, basically, but they don't really get me sometimes. So, when I log on here, and I see all these positive comments, all the favorites and follows, these people anticipating this work from me with smiles on their faces…it makes me happier than I've ever been._

_Alright, you guys are done with hearing my sappy side, aren't ya? Let's get down to what you came for!_

_Previously, on Lost, but Found…_

_Uzu's a sassy, brilliant, douche, and it's slowly infecting Hōka and the rest. Ryuko caught him panty-peeping in her bag, Uzu left (unfortunately, not for good…). He came back, reiterated plan, Satsuki said "yes", and now it's (BDSM) punishment time for Hōka and Uzu. _

_If you've read any of my other works, you'll know that my A/N's don't normally go like this, and I'll do something about that…later…_

_In the meantime, let's get to the story, shall we?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A look of horror painted Ryuko's face as she walked into her homeroom class, Mako by her side. Her homeroom teacher, Aikuro MIkisugi, who was a raggedy guy that looked (and acted) like a character straight out of a bad 70s movie (what with that shaggy, unkempt blue mop he called a hairdo and his tinted aviator shades), that only dressed up in a white dress shirt and black trousers, was chatting it up with Uzu Sanageyama. The forest-locked fencer exchanged a hearty laugh with Aikuro, as he lowered his head and locked eyes with Ryuko.

Ryuko dropped her bag, allowing the thud to resonate throughout the small classroom that was decorated with cheesy posters about Algebra, "inspiration" and the like. The few other students that were there stopped their conversations, and all eyes were drawn to the front of the room. "Y-Y-Y-" Ryuko began to stammer before she was interrupted by Uzu.

"Actually it's 'U-U-U-Uzu'" Uzu retorted as he crossed his arms, a cocksure smile dancing on his face, "get it right, will ya?"

Ryuko was far from shock now, and had adopted an emotion of pure fury at human embodiment of a sassy demon, and clenched her fist she took a few steps forward and exclaimed, "**I'M GONNA KILL YOU!**" as she raised her fist to swing at Uzu, who didn't flinch at all at her advances.

Before Ryuko's fist had a chance to make contact with Uzu's face, Mako popped up out of nowhere in between the two, and exclaimed, "WAIT A MINUTE!" surprising even Uzu and Aikuro.

Ryuko lowered her fist slightly and inquired, "What is it, Mako?!"

As Mako got uncomfortably close to Uzu, she poked him in various places, and mired at his lengthy coat, inquiring, "You know this guy, Ryuko?! But I thought you said you only go for girls!"

Ryuko tensed up at that statement, and was now in full-on blush mode as she replied, "W-W-Well, I don't _know_ this," she began as she abandoned her demure blush and shifted to a pure fury, "disgusting, cocky, overconfident, perverted excuse for a man!" she settled down as she continued, "More over, I'm _roughly _acquainted with him."

"I saw her underwear." Uzu flatly stated, that Cheshire Cat-esque grin only intensifying.

Mako (along with the rest of the male students (and even some of the female students)) felt a small trickle of blood erupt from their nose as she could only wail, "WAAAAAAAH?!" and turn to Ryuko, giving her a once over, examining every exposed inch of her in that familiar sailor uniform.

Ryuko felt a small blush creep up her cheeks as she turned to the rest of the class and exclaimed, "It's not what you think! There was a pair in my backpack and-"

"Ryuko." Aikuro deadpanned, drawing the attention of everyone, "I'm disappointed in you."

"Eh?" Ryuko inquired in a droll tone as she turned to Aikuro.

"I'm disappointed," Aikuro reiterated, "that you didn't tell me you knew the great Uzu Sanageyama sooner!" his tone significantly more elated near the end.

"**EH?!**" Ryuko exclaimed as she drew back in disbelief.

"Uzu here is the head of the Fencing Club," Aikuro explained, his voice tainted with glee, "which recently went to and won the regional championship! If that's not enough, he heads up all the other non-mainstream athletic clubs!"

"Oh, go on…" Uzu said, covering his face as though a blush was coming over him, then, after a short pause, reiterating "no, seriously. Go on."

"Tch!" Ryuko huffed out of indifference, "What's that matter ta me?" she inquired, obviously unamused.

Aikuro's jaw, as well as the jaws of everyone else, save for Uzu, hit the proverbial floor. Uzu chuckled as he said, "Not easily impressed, eh?"

"Not by sick perverts!" Ryuko retorted as she pointed an accusatory finger at Uzu. "And what're ya here for anyways?!"

"Well," Uzu explained as he filed his fingernails on the lapel of his coat and examined it, "as your senior, I thought it only right to come and check on some of the classes during the day…maybe recruit a new member or two…" after giving his right hand a once over, he flashed a diabolical grin at Ryuko and inquired, "know where I could find some?"

Ryuko took a cautionary step back, Mako clinging to her the entire time, and replied, "Save your breath, hot shot; I ain't interested."

Uzu cocked his head to the side, and sighed in faux disappointment as he responded, "A real shame, that. You have potential, you know?"

Ryuko responded with a scowl, and then turned to Aikuro and inquired, "Mr. Mikisu-…Aikuro, level with me, what's he _really_ up to?"

Aikuro just shrugged and whispered to Ryuko, "Look, I don't know, but be on your guard…I don't know about this guy…"

"Says the one who was just fawning over him a minute ago." Ryuko replied, causing Aikuro to chuckle slightly.

Aikuro assumed his teacher's position, and boomed, "Now class, Uzu here will be surveying all of you today for the time that he's here, so make him feel welcome." he shot a look to Ryuko, who in turn, placed a hand on her chest and inquired,

"Who? Lil' ol' me?" in a sarcastic tone. She leveled her gaze with Uzu, who was just as disgustingly confident as ever, then gave him a "Feh!" before picking her backpack up and going over to her seat with Mako. As Aikuro began to teach about Sine, Cosine, and Tangent, Uzu wandered around the classroom for awhile before waltzing over to the duo's desks, pulled up a chair from and empty desk, and copped a squat right in between the two.

"The hell're you doin' here?" Ryuko inquired in a somewhat hushed tone as Aikuro continued in a feeble attempt to educate the students.

"Well, I came to observe," Uzu began as he kicked up his feet on Mako's desk, "and since you show the most potential…"

"Ooooh," Mako mired as she examined Uzu's finely polished dress shoes, "how did you get them to shine like that?"

As Mako rattled off pointless question after pointless question, Uzu got more and more infuriated; an emotion he rarely allowed himself to feel. He turned to Ryuko and whispered, "Is Coconut Head over here always so annoying?"

Ryuko just gave Uzu a look of disgust, and tried her best to focus on her notes, or lack thereof.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'…" Uzu muttered to himself as he leaned his head back and gazed up at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he heard a voice in his ear; Satsuki's.

"Uzu," Satsuki began, "is the transmitter working properly?"

Uzu stopped his staring contest with the ceiling, and cast quick glances at Ryuko and Mako, making sure they were thoroughly distracted before he voiced his reply. "Yes," he muttered as silently as he could while remaining audible, "looks like Hōka did something right for once…"

"I heard that!" Hōka's annoyed voice called.

"You're there too, Hōka?" A surprised Uzu inquired.

"We all are," Satsuki responded, "and you're in no position to criticize your accomplice." Satsuki stated, her voice still icy in tone through the static-ey transmitter. Uzu simultaneously huffed out of his nostrils and cringed slightly as he remembered the task he and Hōka were to perform after this mission's completion as Satsuki continued, "Also, you're not here to start a fight, you're here to gather data."

"And of what interest is she to you, again?" Uzu inquired. Satsuki could tell that repulsively smug grin of his was broader than ever before, just by the tone of his voice.

After a long pause, Satsuki stated, "L-Look, just get information on her, alright?!"

"My my," Uzu facetiously replied as he dusted his locks out of his eyes, "did the great Satsuki Kiryuin just…" he did as good of a gasp as he could without being noticed, "stutter?"

"_Uzu Law-_" Satsuki's stern voice began to say before Uzu felt a sudden charge of energy run through his body as Satsuki began to say his middle name.

"_Don't you dare finish that name__!_" Uzu silently exclaimed, "You know I hate that name!"

After drawing the attention of some of the students nearby (Ryuko and Mako exclusive), he flashed a nervous grin and made a shoo-ing motion with his hands. With the class refocused on Aikruo's lesson, Uzu glanced over to Ryuko, then inquired of Satsuki, "Exactly what am I supposed to get out of her, eh? What, you think she's gonna be responsive to me after everything that's happened?"

"I don't expect much out of you," Satsuki replied in an unamused tone, "I never have. Just find out something that I'll find interesting. And don't forget, I'll be monitoring you the entire time…"

As Satsuki ominously trailed off, Uzu rolled his eyes as he glanced over to Ryuko and thought to himself, _'Something she'll find useful…' _as his mind raced with infinite possibilities. As he rubbed the bridge of his nose, Ryuko muttered to him,

"Four Eyes…"

With his thought process interrupted, Uzu turned to Ryuko and attempted to put his feet on the ground, only to realize that Mako had fallen asleep on them. Sighing at the fact that he would have to polish them later, he uttered out a half-assed, "Eh?"

Ryuko, a disgusted frown still painting her face, pointed to the right pocket of Uzu's pristinely white pants, and stated, "Those glasses, on your pocket; Four Eyes."

Uzu silently bit his tongue as punishment on himself for not hiding his glasses well enough, and replied, "Yeah, what of 'em?"

"Wear 'em, ya idiot." Ryuko stated as she expertly twiddled a pencil in her hands.

"No thanks," Uzu replied, "I see better with out them…"

Ryuko's expression relaxed a little bit, and she inquired, "What kinda shit logic is that?"

"You see, without proper sight," Uzu explained as he pointed to the banks of gray fog that were his eyes, "you're forced to rely on your other senses, making you infinitely better, in everything. Your body is compensating for the fact that it's missing one of its critical senses by heightening the rest."

Ryuko furrowed her brow, and rolled her eyes as she responded, "Like I said: shit logic."

"But it works." Uzu replied, flashing a grin. After a small silence, an idea began brewing in Uzu's head; one that Uzu knew was just hair brained enough to work. "Say," he began as he turned to Ryuko, who sighed as she looked at him, "mind if I ask you something?"

"Uzu Sanageyama, inquiring something in such a plebeian manner?" Satsuki mused over the earpiece.

"I don't care…" Ryuko replied as she gazed out of the window at the bare trees and snow-covered grass outside that was all soon going to be washed away by the spring showers.

"What were you doing at the senior cheerleading demonstration?" Uzu inquired, doing his best to stow as much of his naturally sly tone as he could.

Ryuko froze mid-pencil twiddle, as the sound of the pencil hitting the desk seemed to resonate throughout the entire room. She visibly tensed up, and stuttered out, "H-How do you-?!...N-n-nothing really…"

"Says the one whose ears are turning redder than the lining on that uniform." Uzu stated, that playful tone slowly seeping back into his voice. Ryuko spun her head around and covered her ears, only revealing the blush that was tainting her entire face. "Tomato." Uzu mocked, chuckling at the whole ordeal.

"Sh-shut up!" Ryuko silently exclaimed as she went to hit Uzu in the head, only to have him deftly dodge it. Even in a chair, he moved swiftly and precisely.

"Ooh, such vim and vigor!" Uzu complimented through various dodging movements.

When Ryuko swung several times again, Uzu interrupted one by catching it, and then locked eyes with Ryuko and deadpanned, "Look, there's something up with you, and, albeit a mild curiosity, I'm curious nonetheless."

Ryuko recoiled her arm, did her best to stow the blush, and simply replied, "I…just…wandered out there, that's all."

"Oh really?" Uzu lulled, "Because Stonewall has distinct routes and guides for the pep rallies…you'd've had to sneak away from them, and then assimilate into the senior crowd, and hide in the crowd until the exhibition had concluded." Uzu's devilish grin broadened as he lowered his tone even more and stated, "You're a determined one, aren't you?"

Ryuko slid back as far up against the wall as she could in her plastic chair. She lowered her head and mumbled, "I always…_mmmmmf…._"

Uzu cocked his head to the side and inquired, "My sincerest apologies; what?"

"I always wanted to…" Ryuko began, "be…_mmmmmfff_…"

"Look," Uzu flatly stated, "do you need a fucking bullhorn? Just say it!"

"_A CHEERLEADER; ALRIGHT?!_" Ryuko silently, but sharply said.

Uzu allowed himself to perform an action he rarely ever did; he allowed his mouth to hang visibly agape, in shock. Rarely did the great Uzu Law-(**I TOLD YOU I HATE THAT NAME!**_…Sorry, Uzu…)_ Sanageyama ever feel shock/awe. So, on the rare occasion that he did, he felt it only proper that he show it.

"Y-You always-" Uzu began, but he was cut off by Ryuko, who was enveloped in the euphoria of her own silent desires.

"I know it's sounds stupid," Ryuko interrupted, "and I know I ain't near as good as some of the other girls out there…but I guess…" Ryuko sighed wistfully as she turned her gaze towards the outside, "I guess I thought I'd have a chance of finding a soulmate there or somethin'."

Uzu's mouth teased a cocksure grin, but he stifled it as best he could as he inquired, "Soulmate, eh?"

"Somethin' a guy like you would know nothin' about." Ryuko sharply stated.

Uzu chuckled as he said, "Slander me and mark me a charlatan all you want, Miss Matoi, I couldn't care less." As Uzu carefully began to lift Mako's fingers off of his shoes, he inquired "Again, out of mild curiosity, what made you think you'd find a soulmate there?"

"Didn't I say you know nothin' about that?" Ryuko teased, her gaze still fixated on the outside. The sun had begun to peek out from under the blanket of gray that covered the sky.

"And I said I didn't care what you thought." Uzu replied flatly.

"The hell're ya askin' me questions for then?" Ryuko inquired, agitation painting her expression and voice.

"You know, we could continue like this forever, until someone breaks this moebius loop," Uzu droned as he rolled his eyes slightly, "so how about one of us performs said aforementioned task? Specifically, the one with hair so feathery, a pigeon could use it as a fucking down."

Ryuko balled her free hand into a tight fist. Uzu took notice of this, and used his right hand to stroke his chin as he stated, "Actually, with that one red streak, it's more like a weird robin-pigeon rejected love-child..."

"Do you always piss people off this bad?" Ryuko inquired, utilizing all of her willpower to resist the urge to add a little red to Uzu's wild mane as well.

Uzu shrugged, and flashed a somewhat toothy grin, making for an implied 'yes'.

After an awkwardly long silence, Uzu finally began to lift Mako's head off of his shins, when Ryuko stated, "I guess it's because the girls there are so elegant, and headstrong…"

"Eh?" Uzu inquired as he dropped Mako's head on her desk with a thud, drawing the attention of a student nearby.

"Cheerleaders." Ryuko said, her tone somewhat calm now, "I guess it's because of what I said; elegant and headstrong, but shy and demure, and drop-dead gorgeous all at the same time. In fact, there is this one girl..." Ryuko heard a slight squeal to escape her, instantly realizing her mistake and then withdrawing back into her corner.

Uzu's smile in reply was not one of cockiness, surliness, sass, or any other such emotion. It was one of genuine happiness. "If that's the case," Uzu began as he stood up, dusted off his pants and coat, "thank you for your time, Miss Matoi. This exchange was…fascinating."

As Uzu slid the chair back to it's original desk, Ryuko rolled her eyes and replied, "Whatever, pervert…"

"I hope to escape that label one day." Uzu responded with his normal, devious smile across his face.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Ryuko droned, now remembering her disgust with Uzu.

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Uzu retorted before waving goodbye to the class, and Aikuro, then slamming the door as he left.

As he slammed the door on the way out, Mako rose out of her seat and repeatedly, and rapidly, looked right and left before locking eyes with Ryuko and inquiring, "Wha-What did I miss, Ryuko? Where's Mr. Sanageyummy?"

Ryuko chuckled at her friend's normal bubbly attitude, and then eyed the door as she said, "Gone, thank god…"

"Aww…" Mako sighed as she plopped her head back down on her desk, "but I never got to ask him how he gets his shoes so shiny!"

As Ryuko again laughed at her friend, she thought in the back of her mind, _'What was up with the third degree anyways…?'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Uzu wandered the empty halls, miring at the various pieces on display from the various clubs. After a few minutes, he snickered as he stated, "Did you hear all that m'lady?"

"Now's not the time to be facetious, Uzu." Satsuki replied, her tone completely different from anything Uzu had ever heard.

"So Matoi's got herself little crush, eh?" Uzu teased, "And from the sounds of it, someone on the cheerleading team…wonder who?"

"Your performance was satisfactory, Uzu," a mildly amused Hōka interjected, "now allow me to show you how someone properly procures data."

"Technically, I'll be _hearing_ how someone 'properly procures data'," Uzu replied as he walked over to a nearby drinking fountain, "since it's audio-only. I'm not gonna be seeing shit."

"Uzu Sanageyama!" Ira shrieked, his voice still wrought with pure discipline, "I suppose there is a certain degree of commendation in order!"

"Mmm…" an unamused Uzu replied as he took a drink of water.

"So the Monkey is intelligent, eh?" Nonon maniacally cooed.

"Yes," Uzu replied, "but I don't know if the same can be said for the Snake…"

Uzu heard the clamoring coming from the other end, and deduced that Hōka and Ira were doing their best to detain Nonon from tearing away from the new hideout and coming running to pummel Uzu.

"Hōka, there isn't much time," Uzu stated in an unusually serious tone, "better get in place."

"My my," Hōka sarcastically began, "when did you get so serious?"

"Well, it's my plan, remember?" Uzu equally as sarcastically inquired.

"Understood…" Hōka responded, "I'm on my way."

_'Exactly as planned…' _Uzu thought to himself as he uttered a maniacal laugh that echoed throughout the entirety of Stonewall Academy.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: And so, Uzu's plan unfolds further. Is there more to this than what we're seeing?! Only time will tell…_

_Next time on __**'Lost, but Found'**__…Hōka's time to shine!_

_Thanks again for all the positive response on this, and if you haven't already, go ahead and drop this story a favorite/follow/review! (Also, bonus points if you can guess Uzu's middle name!)_

_And, as you can probably tell, these next few chapters will be relatively shorter, as they will be dealing with the various class period interlude-esque deals. But after these are done, expect a return of your average length in chapter!_

_Thanks again, and I'll see you soon!_


	4. Hōka's Chemistry

_A/N: If you spotted the inconstancy from a prior chapter, then I throughly commend you. If not, then please carry on, nothing to see here…_

_I'm just gonna go in the corner and wallow in sorrow at how I managed to mess this up. THANK YOU LAST MINUTE PLOT CHANGES._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I don't get this!" Ira boomed over the transmitter, "I thought I was supposed to be next!"

"Give me a break," Hōka stated as he adjusted himself in his seat, "it gets stuffy over there, so I decided to institute some…last minute changes."

"Translation: Ya got jipped." Uzu added. Hōka heard a small smack over the earpiece, and assumed that Uzu could now add to the impressive collection of bruises on the crown of his head.

"Point 1 for Frog!" Nonon declared in a tone that imitated a sports announcer.

Hōka rolled his eyes as he examined the rather unimpressive chemistry classroom. It had your basic 3-person desks with outlets, and a compartment underneath to store your backpacks and other supplies. The room itself had several cabinets here and there, some embedded into the walls, that all boasted various collections of textbooks and boxed chemistry supplies that were decorated with stickers and warnings depicting poorly illustrated stick figures getting their limbs burned off. Several students were already there, and had begun to frantically scramble to complete the prior night's assignment, earning a huff of indifference from Hōka. What did peak his interest, though, was the fact that Aikuro Mikisugi was the teacher here.

"I don't get it…" Hōka quietly said to himself as he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "how does one man manage to procure four different teaching positions?"

"Wasn't that in your database?" Satsuki inquired over the transmitter.

"I checked every available source on the guy," Hōka stated as he glanced down at his phone, and then at Aikuro again, "he has a rather bizarre past. He apparently worked as a mechanic back in the 60s before finding himself-"

"So he's a hippie?" Uzu inquired.

"If you wanted to use the lay vernacular," Hōka stated as he stowed his phone momentarily to put on his glasses once more, "and also he's apparently a former nudist."

"Eh?!" The group collectively exclaimed (sands Satsuki), causing Hōka to take the earpiece out and readjust it to accommodate his newly busted eardrums.

"What's so shocking about that?" Satsuki inquired, her tone as unamused as ever.

"Are you kidding me?!" Uzu exclaimed, "The dude was a nudist! He walked around naked wherever he went for fuck's sake! How do I know that he doesn't have some weird nudist power?! How do I know his nipples don't…I don't know...glow or some shit?!"

"Do you ever shut up…?" Ira inquired. Even Hōka could tell just by the tone of his voice that he had just as splitting a headache as himself.

"My Mom never taught me manners," Uzu replied, his tone soaked with a horribly faux sense of innocence, "if you wanna blame anyone, blame her."

Yet another whack, this time unmistakably from Nonon, as this one was forceful, yet had a girly essence about it.

"At any rate," Uzu began, Hōka heard the sound of him kicking up his feet on the table, "there was some degree of bizarreness to his and Matoi's interactions."

Hōka raised his eyebrows slightly, and replied, "Elucidate, if you please."

"I don't know," Uzu responded, "I guess they just seemed too…familiar…it wouldn't surprise me if they knew each other."

"A connection to one another's pasts, perhaps?" Satsuki theorized.

"Like I said, I don't know," Uzu replied, "I'm just spitballing. Add whatever you will to that at your own discretion…"

After a few moment's silence, Satsuki chimed in, "Remember Hōka," Satsuki stated, "get anything and everything that you can out of her."

"Vague," Hōka replied as he adjusted he glasses, "but I'll see what I can do."

"Hey, Ira," Uzu began as Ira grunted in response, "are we still on for that bet?"

After a moment's pause, Ira sighed and said, "Alright," a thud could be heard on the table in the background, "five bucks, right there."

"And mine," Uzu said as he obliged by slamming down what Hōka could assume was five dollars as well, "now we wait."

"I must say," Hōka said as he surveyed the classroom, "I expected this one to be more punctual than she actually is."

"Hey, my advice-" Uzu began.

"Did we ever _ask_ for your input, Uzu?" Satsuki sharply inquired.

"The obvious answer: no." Uzu responded, "Am I still gonna give it? Yes."

"Isn't there a way to shut a monkey up?" Nonon sighed, blowing a heavy puff of air into the microphone which was in-turn sent over the earpiece.

"I think a banana shoved in their mouth normally fixes that problem." Hōka replied, a small smile crossing his face underneath that red turtleneck tracksuit.

"Yeah, or a banana up his a-" Nonon began but was interrupted by Hōka telling them all to shut up as Ryuko was walking in.

"Jeez, what was up with guy?" Ryuko inquired of Mako as she walked in the classroom.

"Aw, c'mon Ryuko," Mako huffed, "don't be so hard on Mr. Sanageyomo…I liked his shoes!"

"Glad you two are bonding over a mutual interest in fine footwear!" Ryuko retorted as she rubbed her temples and strutted over to Hōka's desk.

"'Scuse us!" Mako cheerily stated as she sat down to Hōka's left, "Are these seats taken?"

"No," Hōka flatly responded, "go ahead, I don't care."

"Yeah, whatever…" Ryuko muttered as she pulled out her seat. After scoping out Hōka's track outfit, she inquired, "What, did ya lose a bet with the track team or something, Four Eyes?"

"Ryuko!" Mako berated.

"There was no betting latent within my choice of outfit, Miss Matoi," Hōka coldly replied, "however I could inquire that of you…"

"I told you!" Uzu declared over the earpiece, "I rub off on people!"

"Quiet!" Ira boomed.

"_Hey_," Ryuko began, tensing her muscles before relaxing slightly and inquiring, "the hell do ya know my name? And what's up with the unzipping and re-zipping your turtleneck?"

"And why is your hair blue?" Mako inquired as she pulled at some of Hōka's glacial locks.

Swatting Mako's hand away Hōka stated, "What I do with my clothing of my own volition is none of your great concern, Miss Matoi. However as to my knowledge of your name…Uzu Sanageyama told me."

Ryuko felt a slight chill run up her spine, and she lowered her head as she said, "So…you know that miserable excuse for a human?"

"Let me put you at ease so that this whole atmosphere isn't quite so awkward." Hōka said as he adjusted his glasses, "His perverse nature does not reflect on me…he's just wild and impudent, kind of like a monkey; and a sad excuse for one at that."

"So I'm not the only one who thinks that, am I?" Nonon slyly said. Hōka didn't need to hear Uzu's reply to know that there was frustration written all over his face and mood.

Mako grabbed Hōka's shoulder and inquired, "Hey, hey! Do you know how he gets his shoes so shiny? C'mon, tell me tell me tell me tell me-"

Mako was cut short by Hōka grabbing her shoulder as he sighed and whispered, "Shhhhhhh…"

After a few seconds, Mako's head slammed face first into the desk, and Mako began to snore lightly.

"Mako!" Ryuko exclaimed as she reached over to shake her friend awake.

Hōka grabbed Ryuko's arm and pushed it back as he said, "Relax, Miss Matoi, just a minor sleeping trick utilizing a key pressure point. She'll wake up in roughly 20 minutes, give or take."

Ryuko's blood was beginning to boil, and she suddenly saw how Uzu and this guy got along so well. She shot up out of her seat and said, "Okay look Mr….." Ryuko was suddenly hit with the realization that she had no idea who this guy was at all.

Hōka interrupted her scene by grabber her skirt and pulling her back down as he said, "Inumuta. Hōka Inumuta, and the pleasure is egregiously mutual."

"Eh?" Ryuko said as she realized she was seated once again.

"Alright class!" Aikuro said as he walked in, his crew socks sliding across the linoleum, "Now today we have a packet for you to handle and then the rest of the class is yours to do as you please." Aikuro pulled a matchbook and an incense burner out of his desk at the front that was already a mess with ungraded papers, future and past assignments, 70s memorabilia, pencils and pens, and his computer monitor. Sliding some of the papers aside, he produced a brown paper bag and pulled some incense sticks out of it. Hōka saw the bag was labeled 'Sandalwood'.

He frowned slightly behind his turtleneck and turned to Ryuko as he inquired, "Is this behavior normal?"

Ryuko inhaled as the spicy scent of the incense wafted throughout the room. She exhaled as a relaxed smile came across her lips and she mused, "I love this scent…I really do…"

"Taking that as a 'yes'…" Hōka said as Aikuro lit one last incense stick and began to distribute the packets. As Hōka and Ryuko received their packets (they sat in the far back), Ryuko inhaled once again, and then sighed as she flipped through the four paged packet. Hōka took note of this, and commented, "Problem?"

"Well, I'm no good at this kinda stuff, ya see?" Ryuko replied, flashing the best smile she could as she plopped the paper back on the desk.

"Hmm…" Hōka hummed as he gave Ryuko a once over.

"I know that hum!" Uzu exclaimed, "Hōka's getting an idea!"

"Shut up." Satsuki calmly said.

"Tell you what," Hōka began as he reached over and grabbed Ryuko's packet, ignoring the chatter of his earpiece, "I'll do this all for you…"

Ryuko gave Hōka a look of surprise, but then snickered as she said, "I'd like to see you try-"

She was cut short by a flurry of pencil scribbles coming from Hōka's side of the table. Hōka ran down each page in under a few minutes, handling each question with such ease, as though it were remedial material. After roughly five minutes, Hōka handed Ryuko the packet and simply said, "You were saying?"

Ryuko took it, and was surprised to see that it was even in a handwriting style similar to hers, so that Aikuro wouldn't get suspicious (if he ever took the time to actually grade papers that is…). "Uh, thanks?" Ryuko said as she set the packet aside.

"Don't think I did that for nothing." Hōka stated as he adjusted his glasses with his right middle and ring fingers.

Ryuko snickered as she said, "All of a sudden I'm seeing how you and Uzu get along…"

"Make no mistake Matoi," Hōka replied as he locked eyes with her, "his personality does not, in any way, reflect on me. This sort of behavior only recently started manifesting itself in me."

"Yeah, cut the chatter, get on with the demands so we can have this done with…" Ryuko sighed as she braced herself.

"I only required some information from you. And then I'll be out of your hair." Hōka said as he took the opportunity to examine Ryuko's feathery mop of a hairdo. "By the way, what's up with only having that one strand of red?"

Ryuko toyed with her crimson streak as she said, "I'm not exactly sure. From what I know I've had this since I was young, but no one knows why."

"Have you ever asked your parents about it?" Hōka inquired.

Ryuko's air of laxness suddenly vanished, and was replaced with one of somber. "Well…I never knew my mom…and my dad's been dead for awhile now."

Hōka felt a small twinge in his heart upon those words, confirming that he actually had one. "…I see…"

Ryuko perked up somewhat and said, "Doesn't really bother me any more, but I guess I should say I'm sorry for making it weird in here, eh?"

Hōka offered the most sympathetic shrug he could and replied, "It's of no great concern to me…"

"Well damn, don't get sentimental." Ryuko said as she grooved her head a little bit out of frustration.

"Make no mistake, I do feel sorry for you." Hōka replied as he adjusted his glasses once more, "I just display my sympathies in different ways than others. The sooner you learn that, the better things will go." Ryuko huffed at Hōka, and calmed herself by inhaling the wonderful, wafting scent of Sandalwood once more.

Hōka took note of this, and said, "I never liked the scent of Sandalwood…too mossy."

Ryuko huffed, and replied, "Say what you will, I love it! It takes me back."

"Unless you grew up in one of the Pacific regions where Sandalwood naturally occurs, I doubt that." Hōka deadpanned.

"Don't ya have any sense of sentimentality?" Ryuko inquired, trying to be as cheerful as possible around this unemotional icicle.

"Somewhat," Hōka replied as he flicked his head slightly to deter his icy locks away from his face, "but not in the conventional means. It thought we just went over this."

"You're no fun." Ryuko droned.

_'You're worse than Nonon…'_ Hōka thought to himself, allowing himself to dwell slightly on the thought of the pink-haired demon.

"Whatcha thinkin' of, Four Eyes?" Ryuko inquired, her voice tainted with mild interest.

Hōka shook himself from his own fantasies as he said, "…Nothing. If it isn't too much to ask, what do you do, now that you have no parents?"

Ryuko shrugged as she said, "I'm kinda homeless, as you probably figured out. So I kinda wander around from property to property until I get kicked out." Ryuko nervously chuckled as she said, "Ain't it funny how that works, eh?"

"Not really," Hōka began, "you're merely making jovial of your plight so that you can dispel any worries or qualms you have."

"Calm it over there, Mr. Fuckin' Dictionary." Ryuko mused, a smile painting her face.

"Off that tangent and on to another," Hōka said, hardly acknowledging Ryuko's comment, "Uzu tells me that you want to be a cheerleader. And that it's very likely that you have a crush on a girl in the cheerleading squad."

Ryuko turned a whole new shade of red, and turned her face as far away from Hōka as she could while still maintaing speaking distance as she said, "W-Well…what's it to ya?!"

"Nothing much," Hōka replied, the amount of interest in his voice increasing, "just curious…what's so great about cheerleaders?"

"Well," Ryuko began, "the girls on the cheerleading squad are so beautiful. Take Amanda Schmidt for instance; that broad smile with the glistening white teeth, her flowing blonde hair, that curvaceous figure of hers…" Ryuko stopped to think about that last one, and found herself blushing and audibly squealing at the thought of Amanda's perfect posterior and ample chest.

It was at that moment however, that Hōka heard something that deeply interested him. Over the earpiece, he heard a fist slam onto the table, one that he thought he recognized.

"Satsuki?" Nonon inquired, curiosity in her voice, "What's wrong? You cracked off a part of the table with that one."

After a moment's silence, Satsuki responded, "…Nothing. I'm fine."

Hōka pondered on this occurrence for a moment, and thought to himself, _'Was Uzu…right?'_

Ryuko escaped her self-induced euphoria long enough to notice the bizarre emotion that seemed to linger in Hōka's eyes, as she couldn't tell what the rest of his face was doing do the height of his turtleneck. "Uh, ya alright there, Hōka?"

Hōka snapped himself away from his thought train long enough to reply, "Oh, it's not 'Four Eyes' this time?"

"Just be happy that I'm concerned." Ryuko stated as she narrowed her eyes at Hōka.

"If I desired your concern, I would've asked for it." Hōka stated as he began to gather up his things. "Miss Matoi, this was an informative experience. I thank you for your time, and I wish you the best." As Hōka walked away, he raised his hand and called, "Farewell."

"Uh…yeah…" Ryuko called after Hōka as he left.

_'Won't he get in trouble if he up and leaves just like that?'_ Ryuko thought to herself as she turned to Aikuro, only to realize that he was self-absorbed at a book titled, '_The New Men's Guid to Hair Care__'_. _'I don't know what I expected…' _Ryuko thought to herself. She then glanced over at Mako and began to attempt to shake her friend awake.

_'This day just gets weirder and weirder…'_ Ryuko thought as Mako began to awake.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah, so _that's_ how one truly obtains data…" Uzu mused over the earpiece as Hōka walked confidently down the halls of Stonewall, taking a few minutes to mire at the outside. It had begun to rain lightly, and Hōka watched apathetically as each falling raindrop melted away the small traces of snow that were left. "Good to know, good to know."

"He got more than you did." Nonon jabbed in a snide tone.

"Not really," Satsuki said, "he merely reinforced what we already knew, but I'll accept it. She's now in a good mood to divulge more and more. We'll get it all out of her, bit by bit."

"And what exactly will be the magnum opus here?" Uzu inquired. Hōka could tell that he was smirking all the while.

"I must concur with him, Satsuki," Hōka added as he leaned on the windowsill while the rain rattled against the glass, "even from the start, you've failed to divulge information on why you instigated this investigation into Matoi. My curiosity is has been thoroughly peaked now that Uzu brought it up."

"Hōka, with the assist," Uzu said as he clapped his hands, "thanks for that man. I owe you a high five!"

Hōka sneered at Uzu while he awaited Satsuki's response. After a moment, Satsuki said, "Just carry on. All will be clear in due time…"

"What'd I tell ya, Ira?" Uzu said, sounding rather proud of himself, "That's 5 easy bucks!"

Ira growled as Uzu could be heard snatching up the money that had been placed on the table earlier. "…Very well, Uzu. I concede."

"Out of the slim to nil traces of curiosity I have for this matter, what was that all about?" Hōka inquired as he began to make for the exit, abandoning his windowsill.

"I bet Ira over here 5 bucks that Satsuki would end up saying something to the likes of 'all in due time'," Uzu explained, "and he didn't believe me."

"Why would you bet on something like that?" Hōka inquired as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the splitting headache he was getting off of all of this.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to speak up Hōka," Uzu replied sarcastically, "we catch the occasional bit of interference over here."

"Forget it…" Hōka replied as he heavily sighed.

"Might just wanna give it up, Hōka," Nonon said, "these two have been like this all day."

Hōka stopped dead in his tracks as he said, "Did…you just call me Hōka?"

"Do you prefer 'Dog' instead?" Nonon inquired, genuinely curious.

"N-No…thank you…" Hōka replied, lost in thought.

_'What's going on here…' _Hōka thought to himself as sat down next to the door that led out back to the football field, _'and what new data will emerge from this…?' _

"At any rate," Satsuki said as she could be heard rising up from her chair, "lunch break is fast on the approach. Everyone, you know your positions. Get to them."

"Hey wait," Uzu interjected, "I don't remember a 'lunch' part of my plan!"

"New developments, Uzu," Satsuki mused, "new developments. I thought this bit up after assessing that pathetic mess of a plan of yours. C'mon, I'll debrief all of you when we get there."

"Oh, what happened to all this talk about my 'brilliance'?" Uzu inquired as he rose up out of his chair as well.

"I don't remember ever saying that." Satsuki mused as Hōka heard the group move further away from their microphones.

"Yeah, but you _thought_ it." Uzu replied as Hōka heard the door open, and them continue their muffled chat.

Hōka sighed as he said to himself, "Ryuko Matoi, eh?" he chuckled slightly as he continued, "Satsuki sure has _unique_ tastes in women…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: I'm feeling especially generous (lonely) over Spring Break, so I figured you guys deserve more chapters! I think that it's well earned after all the positive reviews you guys are giving! I love all of you!_

_Again, I beg of you, please bear with me on the length of these chapters until we conclude this little arc of Uzu's plan. At that time, the chapters will return to their normal length, and we'll all be happy again. Promise_

_And so, as Hōka ponders over this whole ordeal, what does Satsuki have stirred up for the lunch break? That and more in the next chapter which should be out soon!_

_If you haven't already, please give this story a review (which I love love __**LOVE**__ reading)/follow/favorite, and check out some of my other works if you get bored waiting on new chapters! And even if you don't, thanks for reading nonetheless!_

_Until next time!_


	5. Lunch and Cheerleaders

_A/N: Remember when I said I was feeling generous (lonely) over Spring Break? Yeah, this is the result of more of said generosity (horrible, terrible, agonizing loneliness). _

_I'm not sure whether it's conducive to my writing or not that I'm eating lunch while writing a chapter about lunch, but who knows, we'll see where it goes. _

_I wanted to pull another rhyme at the end of that sentence without sounding like an idiot, but trust me, the 5 tries I put in did not yield pretty results. _

_But again, I can't begin to express my delight at the outpour of reviews and the like at the previous few chapters! Seriously, thank you. Even though you can't hear my voice, since these are mere characters on a text file, just know that I'm seriously happy about all of this, and I love all of you._

"Kiss ass…"

_**THIS IS NOT THE TIME UZU!**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I don't get it," Uzu sighed as he leaned up against the brick wall in the cafeteria, "I really don't."

Stonewall's cafeteria was nothing more than the gymnasium with lunch tables in it. The putrid odor of shit-quality school food that wafted through the area nearest to the cafeteria exit was almost unbearable, and the tables were laid out rather sporadically and haphazardly. However, students weren't limited to this confinement; they had a small degree of freedom. They had the option to go outside on the football field and bleachers to eat, or to designated hallways. Hallways, mind you, that were strictly monitored by members of the Student Council. But hey, anywhere's better than that hellhole.

"Your whining is hardly conducive to our mission." Hōka replied as he sat on the ground, leaned up against the wall.

"Well pardon me Polar Ice Cap," Uzu retorted in a snide tone, "but it's not everyday that I concoct a brilliant plan that includes everyone, only to have it majorly altered by a one Miss Eyebrows…"

"I always did wonder what caused their incredible thickness…" Hōka added, "do you think it runs in her family?"

"The only solace I have is that I'm paired up with you." Uzu said as he gazed up at the ceiling.

"Believe you me, the solace is not mutual." Hōka responded, adjusting his glasses.

"Aw, c'mon man!" Uzu prodded as he nudged Hōka with his sneakered foot, "We're like, partners in crime!"

"I got roped into this whole mess because of an error on my part," Hōka said as he looked up at Uzu, "_not_ because of some trivial task I performed for this crackpot scheme of yours."

"Well, I guess I can't be _too _mad at ya," Uzu replied, completely ignoring everything Hōka had previously said, "I mean, you _did_ wire up the earpieces, _and _the walkie talkies for this little bit of the operation."

"When you think about it, it's relatively simple," Hōka replied, unamused by Uzu's feeble attempt at a compliment, "anyone with a third grade education could perform this task."

"Precisely why Nonon wasn't allowed in on this!" Uzu remarked as he chuckled slightly.

"Nonon wasn't allowed in on this because she had other duties to perform." Hōka corrected as he reached into the pocket of his track sweatshirt. After rummaging around in it for several seconds, he produced a medium sized walkie talkie, and twisted the knob on the side until he found the right frequency and held down the button on the side as he spoke, "Any sightings?"

"Nothing in the hallways," Ira said, "but I'm continuing the search. Anything with you?"

"Nada!" Uzu replied as he leaned down to speak into the walkie talkie, "Zip! Zilch! Absolutely fucking nothing!"

"I think you just earned a promotion to 'Howler' Monkey, Monkey." Nonon mocked in a somewhat amused tone.

"And has the Snake spotted any prey?" Uzu inquired as Hōka recoiled in disgust at Uzu's cocky grin, and his halitosis was flaring up, now of all times.

"Potential sighting out here," Nonon said, her voice wrought with intrigue, and herself completely ignorant of Uzu's remark, "I'll keep you updated. Over."

"Aw, you insult me, Nonon!" Uzu droned, "You completely sap this situation of all of its frivolity if you refuse to counter my remarks!"

"Shouldn't you be grateful?" Hōka inquired, hopelessly confused at Uzu's reaction.

"Sorry Monkey," Nonon replied, still coped in conundrum and intrigue, "this is more important that your pointless shit spats. See ya."

Uzu and Hōka simultaneously sighed, and Uzu continued on to say, "Jeez, she's no fun sometimes…"

"Says the one whose addlepated and cocky tendencies are counteracted only by his momentary streaks of brilliance!" Hōka snapped, "Brilliance, I might add, that somehow, time after time, involves me! Care to explain, Sanageyama!?"

"Hey, do you think I have a chance with the brunette over there?" Uzu inquired, oblivious to Hōka's seething rage as he pointed to a brunette girl with shoulder length chestnut brown hair, aquamarine eyes, and lips that had just the right amount of lipstick applied.

"Forget it…" Hōka sighed as he threw his hands up in surrender to the situation at hand and sulked even lower than he already was.

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Uzu replied as he too sighed and hung his head low, "too much makeup on that one. It'd be like kissing an Esteé Lauder factory."

"Uzu, you forget our main focus is finding Matoi," Hōka reminded him, "carry out your perverse desires and lust all you want, as long as it's after we've concluded our operation."

Uzu huffed at Hōka and said, "C'mon; given Matoi's nature, what are the odds she even eats lunch on campus?"

"Elucidate Uzu," Hōka groaned, "I have a headache from all this…"

"Whose to say that Matoi doesn't sneak off campus or something?" Uzu theorized as he shrugged slightly.

"It's not entirely out of the question," Hōka replied, "I'm actually beginning to accept that as borderline plausible."

"Told ya, partner!" Uzu said as he raised his hand for a high five and flashed a toothy smile. Hōka sighed as he stood up and obliged Uzu (albeit begrudgingly), and Uzu said, "And that wasn't even the one I owed you."

"How touching…" Hōka droned as he rolled his eyes and rescanned the crowd.

"Yeah," Uzu said as he placed his hands on the nape of his neck and rested his head on them as he leaned back, "I guess I can be that generous, giving kind of guy."

"Oh, really?" Hōka sarcastically inquired.

Uzu, not picking up the sarcasm, replied, "'_Can_' being the key word there."

"I would never have guessed…" Hōka mused as he thew his head back and gazed up at the ceiling.

"If you're counting the number of little holes in the ceiling," Uzu commented, "it's 8,734."

"You actually counted?" a surprised Hōka inquired.

"No, just guessing to spare you that fate." Uzu replied, as a grin creeped up the corners of his mouth.

"I don't know what I expected." Hōka groaned as he lowered his head and rescanned the area for signs of Ryuko. After a few minutes, he looked to Uzu and said, "So I'm beginning to think that you're right about that theory you told me about."

Uzu's face lit up with elation and cockiness, and his proverbial head swelled to triple its size (his ego as well) as he said, "So the Great Hōka Inumuta has confirmed the plan of a lowly peasant. I'm honored, my liege."

Hōka looked at Uzu as he stood up and said, "Throw in a bow or two and I'll fully accept your theory as truth-" Hōka was cut short by Uzu performing an impromptu bow, sending the tails (and collar) of his coat flopping. "Well, I didn't expect that, but whatever; I'm a man of my word."

Uzu flashed that signature toothy grin, and rose up to his original posture as he said, "Be honest, as much as you enjoyed the bows of yours truly, you accepted my theory long before this." As he dusted off the right lapel of his coat, he continued on to say, "And I'm thinking you and I both started thinking it was true at around the same time."

Hōka had an unmistakable smirk on his lips this time when he unzipped his turtleneck. He replied, "You always were the intuitive one."

"By the way," Uzu added, "Satsuki put us in charge of repairing that table. How good are your home improvement skills?"

"I'm in the Computer Club for a reason, Uzu." Hōka replied, his face still painted with a smirk.

The duo simultaneously leaned back against the wall, and chuckled lightly as they made their separate remarks at the gaggle of students' interactions. That is, until the walkie talkie beeped as they received a transmission from Nonon.

"I found her." Nonon stated, thoroughly excited.

"Where?!" Everyone exclaimed in unison, even the dormant Satsuki, who had been merely monitoring the airwaves up to this point.

"Bleachers," Nonon replied, "she's on her own, and just kinda laying there. She looks like a slutty slob in that outfit."

"I can see how you know what that looks like…" Uzu mumbled before receiving a sharp flick on the crown of his head; courtesy of Hōka.

"How many does that make now?" Hōka inquired.

"Fuck if I know, dude." Uzu replied, a sly smile dancing on his lips, "I count 'em by day, not overall."

"Remind me to make a chart on that one…" Hōka mused. He then held down the talk button the walkie and inquired, "Satsuki, your orders?"

After a moment's silence, Satsuki stated, "Nonon, proceed with that plan I talked to you about."

"Wait, a plan within a plan?" Uzu inquired.

"If you say 'plan-ception', I _will _hurt you." Hōka deadpanned, instantly shutting down any notion Uzu had of that…for a moment.

Uzu leaned in quickly to Hōka's ear and whispered, "Plan-cep-tion." Enunciating every syllable.

Hōka restrained an urge to punch Uzu, and whispered, "I owe you a punch." before continuing on to say, "Look, what are you getting at here, Satsuki? You never told us about any other plan!"

"I said that I had made some altercations to Uzu's original plan-" Satsuki began before being interrupted.

"Yeah, and ya jipped my main man Ira out of his rightful page time!" Uzu exclaimed.

Hōka gave Uzu a confused look and inquired, "'Page time'?"

"Standard breaking of the fourth wall," Uzu replied, "the Author does it all the time."

"Why?" Hōka retorted, "That's stupid."

Uzu shrugged, and reverted his full attention to the walkie talkie as Ira boomed, "Satsuki saw it fit; I won't question it!"

"Yeah, thanks for breaking my eardrums, Frog." Nonon jeered as she could be heard walking over the walkie talkie.

"So what exactly is this master plan of yours, Satsuki?" Uzu playfully inquired. "And how does a Snake manage to slither her way into this situation?"

"Do you have any modicum of self-control?" Hōka inquired, sounding exhausted at this whole ordeal.

Uzu gave Hōka a look that screamed, 'Are you fucking serious?', and Hōka flashed a small smile as he sighed and then inquired, "Yes honestly Satsuki, what is this all about?"

"To quote Uzu, 'All in due time'…" Satsuki trailed off.

Uzu opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by Hōka who raised a hand to his face and sharply said, "_**Don't say it!**_" before getting up and walking off to wander the halls.

Uzu snickered as he watched a flustered Hōka waltz off, then as he caught up to him, he muttered, "What'd I tell ya? I rub off on people?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon walked across the length of the football field, a bizarre mixture of fury and elation permeating every fiber of her being.

_'Damn this girl…' _Nonon thought to herself as she passed a bevy of giggling girls, sub sequentially sighing as she thought, _'oh well, as long as she doesn't make a move on Satsuki, I'll be fine.' _she giggled as she thought about Satsuki; about all the times she had snuck in a grope or two here and there on that bodacious bod of hers during cheerleading practice, and the time or two when her eyes would drift a little too far upwards when Satsuki was above her during their pyramid formation. However, Nonon's thoughts also drifted into the realm of an unlikely character; Hōka. She began to think of all the times in the recent weeks when Hōka had opportunity after opportunity to interject a jab or a snide comment but had passed it up, only to have it snatched up by Uzu. Nonon twirled around one of the dangling strands of her pink locks, as she thought about how conflicted she was. _'What the hell would the Dog put the moves on me for?' _she thought as she drew ever nearer to the bleachers where Ryuko laid, sprawled out and most likely in deep slumber, _'Am I just more data to him? Then again, I guess, in the right light, the way that his hair hangs just above his eyes is kinda cute…' _she then shook her head vigorously and thought, _'No way! I'm Satsuki's woman, all the way. Always have been, and always will be, right?' _she dismissed any notions towards Hōka that were even vaguely romantic as she climbed the steps, her sneakers rattling against the wet metal.

_'Okay, keep it civil,' _she reminded herself as she dusted off her outfit (a pair of white skinny jeans and a v-neck shirt that exposed just enough cleavage from her (quote unquote "impressive bust" (- Uzu Sanageyama, 2014))) , _'that's what Satsuki told you. If not for your own sake, put up with this bitch's…bitching for Satsuki's sake.'_ she giggled slightly as she thought, _'And besides, I know exactly what kind of reward's in store for me if I can do this right…'_

Nonon carefully climbed the steps up to where Ryuko was, as expected, sound asleep. However this time, her face wasn't covered by a manga, like with Satsuki's encounter, and Nonon got to have her first close-up look at this girl who they'd been fussing about so much.

_'I must admit,' _Nonon thought as she examined Ryuko's slumbering body, _'she's got an impressive figure…' _Nonon was instantly flushed a brilliant shade of crimson when she found her eyes wandering down towards her belly and thighs that were very much exposed by her short skirt and high cut top. As she rolled her eyes back up, she couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of Ryuko's chest size, as she did a quick (approximate) comparison with her eyes. After a few seconds and remembering her original purpose here, she shook Ryuko's face a little bit, and then found herself gazing at her hand and fingers thinking, _'Surprisingly soft skin…' _however, that thought train was interrupted by Ryuko stretching out her arms and yawning cutely as she slowly rose up.

Ryuko rubbed her eyes and revealed those lipid pools of ocean blue that momentarily took Nonon's breath away. After sizing up Nonon, Ryuko cracked a small smirk that Nonon couldn't help but be mesmerized by and said, "You're cute, but what's up with the hair? Did ya fall into a cotton candy machine or somethin'?"

Nonon chuckled lightly at that, and replied, "I could ask something similar about that licorice whip in your hair," Nonon jabbed as she pointed to Ryuko's red strand, "but I don't feel like it."

"Well already you're nicer than the rest of the people I've talked to today…" Ryuko replied, trailing off at the end as she remembered Uzu and Hōka.

"Hm?" Nonon inquired as she sat down next to Ryuko, but then she remembered, "Oh, Monkey and Dog?"

"Eh?" Ryuko responded, her facial expression one of pure confusion.

Nonon remembered that those were nicknames only known amongst her and the Elite Four, and replied, "Oh, those are just some nicknames I came up for Uzu and Hōka."

"You know those idiots?!" Ryuko exclaimed as she leaned in closer to Nonon.

Nonon was somewhat embarrassed at the proximity of the two, but dismissed it and replied, "Y-Yeah…they're idiots."

Uzu and Hōka, who were on the other end of the walkie talkie that was cleverly concealed underneath Nonon's shirt with the talk button held down, muttered, "Says the one…" simultaneously as they continued to listen to the exchange.

"You can say that again," Ryuko said as she scooted a little closer to Nonon so that she didn't have to strain her torso by leaning in, "they kept prodding at me, asking me all these questions about me and I hardly ever got to know anything about them."

"Oh," Nonon replied, "I feel kind of bad then."

"You?" Ryuko inquired as she cocked her head to the side, "Why?"

"Perhaps I should introduce myself," Nonon said as she put her hand just above her right breast (which Ryuko took advantage of and snuck a quick look at her cleavage), "I'm Nonon Jakuzure, the co-captain of the cheerleading squad."

"Ch-Cheerleading Squad, you say?" Ryuko inquired with a vibrant blush adorning her face, and in a tone that was the end result of a melting pot of emotions; embarrassment, pleasure, intrigue, and a host of others.

"Yes," Nonon replied, "and since I know those two rather well," Nonon easily imagined Hōka and Uzu sighing at that comment the instant she said it, "I told them to go out and find some new members for the squad since a prior member has transferred out."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _whoa._" Ryuko said as she waved her hands in front of herself, "You want _me_, to join the cheerleading squad?"

"Well Monkey-er, Uzu said that you know your way around a baton," Nonon said as she allowed her eyes to drift about Ryuko's gorgeous figure, "and he has the mark to prove it." Ryuko shrugged at the remembrance of the incident, which Nonon found extremely cute for some odd reason, "Also," she continued, "haven't you always wanted to be a cheerleader?"

"Well, that's…" Ryuko replied as she scratched her cheek lightly and blushed even deeper.

"Really, you have nothing to lose here." Nonon mused, somewhat excited that Ryuko would be joining them. After a moment's silence, Nonon stood up and said, "Tell ya what; stop by for practice, it starts 20 minutes after school's done, so I'll have enough time to get you a uniform and get you acquainted with the art. If you don't like it, fine."

Ryuko thought about it for a moment, and then concluded, "Ah, what the hell. Ain't like I'm gonna get another chance like this!" she stood up as well, and then realized the significant height difference facing the two. Ryuko stood a full head and shoulders taller than Nonon when they were on the same ground even. As Nonon began to extend her hand to shake, Ryuko did something that Nonon wasn't expecting;

Ryuko stepped down to one level below Nonon, so that she could be on eye level with her, and hugged her tightly. Nonon held her arms at her sides initially, tense at the gesture, but slowly eased into it, and eventually returned the embrace.

"Look," Ryuko said, still holding Nonon, "I know it seems kinda weird, but thanks. For your kindness."

Nonon, completely flushed a whole new shade of maroon by the whole ordeal and overwhelmed by Ryuko's surprisingly sweet natural essence, simply replied, "Y-Yeah…d-don't mention it."

When Ryuko broke the embrace, Nonon felt oddly empty, and she found herself lingering in that position while Ryuko walked off and called after her, "I'll see you in the girl's locker room after school then, right?"

"R-Right!" Nonon echoed back, giving Ryuko a fragile wave as Ryuko strutted off, cheerier than Nonon had ever sen anyone.

Nonon slowly strutted down the steps of the bleachers, completely lost in thought at what had just happened. _'Ryuko Matoi, eh?' _Nonon thought to herself. She lightly giggled, forgetting she had her walkie on, and thought, _'A pretty name for a pretty girl...'_

On the other end of the line, Hōka, Uzu, and Ira, whom they had met up with in the hallways, were all gathered around one walkie in a vacant classroom when they heard Nonon's giggle.

They all exchanged looks over the preceding events, and Uzu snickered as he remarked, "Strange, I didn't know snakes could laugh…"

"And I was unaware a monkey could piss so many people off so easily," Hōka retorted, "but, lo and behold."

"What an interesting development…" Ira said, heavily pondering something.

"No doubt Satsuki had her ears glued to this one." Uzu mused as he kicked up a chair and laid back in it.

_'Now all that's left,' _Uzu mused in his thoughts as he watched Hōka and Ira heatedly debate the prior dialogue,

_'is to let nature take its course…' _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: Eating and writing…today I learned that those go hand in hand, oddly enough…_

_So what is this new development? Nonon's head must be a mess right now, what with all those conflicting feelings! And no doubt Satsuki has something cooking for Ryuko at cheerleading practice, but what exactly?!_

_These answers and some other…things…in the next chapter!_

_Hope you enjoyed and if you did please leave a review/favorite/follow/all of the aforementioned and I will love you more than I already do!_

_Until then, have a great day/week/month/year of your life, and I'll see you next time!_


	6. Nonon's Cheerleading

_A/N: The short chapters are drawing near to their end, and (if I'm motivated enough), this may be the last of them. But who's to say. Oh that's right…me…MUWAHAHAHAHA_

_Alright, all evil laughter aside, I hope you enjoy this little interlude of cheerleading practice!_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Jeez," Nonon moaned as she walked down the hallway to the girl's locker room, Hōka in tow, "out of all of the people to give me a debriefing why is it you?"

"While this is hardly my rendition of proverbial midsummer's night dream, " Hōka replied in a somewhat amused tone, "I was forced into this."

"Out of a teensy weeny bit of curiosity," Nonon began, her gaze still fixated straight forward, "how did they force you into this?"

"We drew sticks." Hōka replied, "Damn Uzu…" he muttered into his collar just loudly enough for Nonon to hear.

"The Monkey would've won?" a surprised Nonon inquired, looking over her shoulder at Hōka.

"No," Hōka coldly replied, "he was the one who dealt the sticks."

"Hmm, then you have no one to blame but yourself for trusting the Monkey." Nonon said as flashed Hōka a disappointed look and then turned her face away.

"As they say, the best sight in hindsight." Hōka sighed as he walked onward.

After a few minutes, Nonon said, "So, do your job. Tell me what Satsuki wants me to do."

"I still fail to see why she can't make this practice." Hōka droned.

"Beats me;" Nonon shrugged, "maybe she wants to make sure that I can handle things on my own?" after lingering on that thought, Nonon continued, "Nah, must be something else."

"Although, she _did_ call for Uzu after we concluded drawing the straws-" Hōka said before cutting himself off mid-sentence and considering something he never wanted to. _'No…she couldn't be…'_ he swallowed as he remembered the task that Satsuki had told Uzu and him about, _'is it that time already?…'_ Hōka received his answer sooner than he thought when Nonon stopped in her tracks, spun around to face him and said,

"FYI, your phone just vibrated."

Hōka shook himself from his trance, and halfheartedly nodded as he pulled his phone from his pants pocket. Displayed there was a text message notification from Satsuki that merely read:

**When you've finished briefing Nonon, come to the place. It's time.**

Hōka allowed a small shudder to run down his spine as he slid his phone back into his pocket, not wanting to face the terrible reality that he was about to face.

"Hm?" Nonon hummed, "What is it?" she inquired as she spun around yet again and bowed down a little bit.

Hōka made a few minute shakes of the head, and then replied, "It's nothing. Let's, just…get this over with."

Nonon resumed her normal posture and started walking again as she said, "Have it your way, I couldn't care less."

"Good." Hōka remarked, a small smirk dancing on his lips.

"Good?" a Nonon inquired, somewhere between amused and shocked.

"Indeed," Hōka responded, "if you actually cared, it would diminish the whole relevance of the situation."

Nonon uttered a light chuckle and replied, "Quit with your barking you dumb Dog."

"Buy me a muzzle and we'll talk." Hōka countered, rolling his eyes out of amusement.

When they were just outside the locker room, Hōka said, "Now, are you clear on your mission?"

"Although you failed to brief me on anything," Nonon snidely replied, "I think I can guess the premise."

"Well then, by all means," Hōka replied as he held his open arms out to Nonon, "pontificate."

"If I'm not mistaken," Nonon began as she crossed her arms, "I have to get Matoi to join the cheerleading squad so Satsuki can get some one on one time with her."

Hōka adjusted his glasses in his usual fashion and transferred that same motion into the unzipping of his turtleneck as he replied, "Satsuki wasn't so…_blatant_, shall we say, with her intentions. However, you pretty much have the premise."

"Honestly, I don't see why they even bother sending a briefer." Nonon replied as she leaned up agains the tacky blue bricked wall next to the door, "This Matoi girl will be easy as pie."

"You know," Hōka began as he crossed his arms, "you never told us of how your experience with Miss Ryuko went."

Nonon felt a blush begin to creep up her face, and she immediately turned from Hōka as she replied, "W-Well, you animals heard it over the walkie talkie, right?! You, Monkey, and Frog; all of you!"

"This is correct." Hōka responded, "However I'm not sure if what we heard aligns with what what you actually felt."

Nonon could feel her blush intensifying as she turned as far away as she could while still keeping her speech coherent. "Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you getting at Doggie?!"

"Actions speak louder than words, Miss Jakuzure." Hōka replied, "And while the rest of the Elites are coped in a conundrum of their own, I possess a deep curiosity as to your actions around Matoi. Your _honest_ actions."

Nonon teetered from side to side before sighing and hiding her blush as best she could as she turned to face Hōka. "Fine." She began as she took an assertive stance that caused Hōka to loosen his posture and take a step or two back, "I walked up to her, I shook her awake, she has _really _smooth skin."

"I noticed that as well when I grabbed her arms," Hōka stated, "but I thought all girls have that."

"Oh, not _this_ smooth," Nonon reinforced, "it's incredible."

Hōka took note of the admiration that painted Nonon's face and voice, and went on to say, "Go on…"

"Ok," Nonon replied, "we talked, I gave her a once over, she agreed to come here, then she-" Nonon cut herself short as she remembered the warm embrace from Ryuko. How tender yet aggressive it was, and how it comforted her so. She remembered how she wanted to hold her tighter and longer, even after the hug had concluded, and that oh so delicious aroma that Ryuko had about her. It was sweet, like macaroons, Nonon's favorite sweet treat.

After a prolonged silence, Hōka waved his hand in front of Nonon and said, "Earth to Jakuzure, come in."

Nonon shook herself from her fantasy which involved Ryuko with macaroons place in rather erotic positions, and responded, "Huh?"

"You were saying something about she agreed to come to this little faux practice session we've set up," Hōka began as he leaned in a little closer to Nonon, "and then you cut yourself off as you were about to say what she did."

"O-Oh!" Nonon exclaimed, attempting to act surprised, "Did I do that?" she chuckled nervously as Hōka asserted his height advantage and towered over Nonon.

"Tell me Nonon," Hōka began in a foreboding tone, "have you perhaps developed…a love interest in Miss Matoi?"

"Wh-What are you talking about, Idiot Dog?!" Nonon exclaimed, not noticing that her face was heating up with the intensity of the tomato red blush on her face.

Hōka certainly noticed this, however. "Oh, nothing…" Hōka mused, "just a theory of mine."

"Well your 'theories' aren't always right, ya know?!" Nonon snapped as she stood on her tiptoes to get near eye level with Hōka.

"Indeed," Hōka replied, boasting an impressive smirk, "as with all theories, sufficient data must be collected before a finalization is made."

"What is that supposed to mean?" a suspicious Nonon inquired.

Hōka snickered as he raised his hand and trace up and along the right (his right, Nonon's left) frame of Nonon's face, finally ending with Nonon feeling something holding up her hair. When she reached up to touch, she felt a hair pin there. It was a simple bobby pin, but it felt firm and sturdy. "Wh-Why?" Nonon inquired as she continued to caress it.

"I remember hearing you voice a vicious diatribe towards your previous bobby pin's inefficiency one day," Hōka explained, "so I figured I might as well play the Good Samaritan for once."

Nonon grinned halfheartedly at Hōka and shrugged as she replied, "Then 'thank you', I guess."

"Don't mention it." Hōka responded as he turned and began to walk away towards his fate, "Please; it makes me sick." he added as he shuddered slightly and continued his walk away.

Nonon rolled her eyes, and then entered the girl's locker room, as she thought to herself, _'Love interest…?' _she giggled as she continued to think, _'So that's what I'm feeling, eh?'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The Kiryuin household wasn't so much a household as it was a mansion on a vast sprawling plot of land. It wasn't anything overly impressive, just your standard marble columns, whitewashed exterior with golden trim (made of pure gold), roundabout driveway where a limousine was at all hours of the day kind of deal. The interior was a cacophony of rooms, including (but not limited to) pool rooms (Olympic sized, naturally), kitchens with the finest gourmet chefs on standby at all hours, maid's quarters, butler's quarters, bedrooms (an unknown number. Uzu once tried counting them when he was over once but gave up at 27…), dining rooms, living rooms that were the size of a small condominium, and a host of other rooms. Not even the matriarch of the family, Ragyo Kiryuin, had dared to explore the vast expanse of the Kiryuin mansion. Mostly because the tall, white-haired, ornate dress-wearing woman was more often than not off on business trips for the family business; Kiryuin Real Estate.

Kiryuin Real Estate had branches here, there, and everywhere. In any small town, big city, or medium sized suburb, you were bound to find an office for Kiryuin Real Estate, ready to set you up with a fine home at a reasonable price.

Ragyo Kiryuin herself was a cold, shrewd, and calculating businesswoman, and took control of every situation as she saw fit. However, her keen business senses were fostered by her constant abandonment of the household. Satsuki had been left to her own whims and desires ever since she was a child, and such, she turned out as she is today. On the rare occasions that the two did meet, they were normally hospitable towards each other. However, Ragyo constantly tried to get Satsuki to adopt the family business, only to be shot down every time. Satsuki claimed that she had her reasons, and Ragyo, being the woman she is, accepted that, and still respected Satsuki for the woman she was.

However today, the house was occupied by only Soroi Iori (Satsuki's personal butler (who, at the time, was out trimming the hedges)), Satsuki herself, and a finely dressed Uzu and Hōka.

"Jeez," Uzu griped as he tugged at the collar on the undershirt beneath his jet black business suit, "why do we have to handle this?"

"I thought we went over this." Satsuki said as the trio waltzed through a finely decorated hallway that had royal red wallpaper and fur-de-lis everywhere.

"Oh we did," Hōka stated, feeling naked that his face was now fully exposed, "however one of us was too busy whining to listen."

"I don't 'whine'," Uzu retorted, "I merely bitch about not getting my way."

"What difference is there?!" Hōka exclaimed.

"Boys." Satsuki curtly said, "You're here to perform a task as redemption for your incompetence, and a task you shall perform."

"Yeah, but anything dealing with real estate has to suck!" Uzu moaned.

"No less than being forced to do it with you…" Hōka grumbled as he rolled his eyes out of spite.

"Well, at least I'm with my partner in crime!" Uzu boasted, disregarding Hōka's previous statement and jabbing him in the side, hitting his ribcage.

As Hōka smarted over the potential bruising he had just incurred, they finally reached a fine oak door that Satsuki promptly stopped by.

"Here." Satsuki stated as she opened the door, revealing what was behind. A large table that was a mess with official looking papers and the like, and several fine leather chairs. "Take a seat." Satsuki ordered as she indicated to the chairs. Uzu and Hōka sighed as they obliged and picked chairs next to each other. "Now," Satsuki began as she strutted about the table, "these are all forms that list the various condominiums, apartments, and the like in this area."

"Staggering…" Hōka mired as he picked up a small stack of the papers and sifted through them haphazardly.

"Out of mild curiosity," Uzu began as he too began to (haphazardly) sift through papers, "what's the difference between a condominium and an apartment?"

"Condos can be owned and sold," Satsuki explained with her usual frown across her lips, "an apartment can not."

"Huh," Uzu huffed, as he reverted his gaze back to the plethora of papers before him, "today I learned…"

Hōka and Satsuki rolled their eyes in unison, and Satsuki shot Hōka a look that said, 'I'm sorry that you're stuck with him…'

Hōka chuckled as if to respond, 'Yeah, me too…'

After the brief air exchange, Satsuki said, "Your job here is to find the ones that you, as a group, feel are the most desirable, and present them to me once you're done."

"Wait a minute," Hōka said as he rose up from his seat, "_us_?!" he gestured to Uzu who shrugged and snickered in acknowledgement, "_As a group?!_"

"I could've said 'as a couple'…" Satsuki mused, earning a disgusted look from Hōka. "Have it all done soon." Satsuki reinforced before walking out.

"And what exactly will you be doing while we toil away at this menial labor?" Uzu inquired, stopping Satsuki in her tracks, "And what exactly is this all for anyways?"

After a few moments of silence, Satsuki replied, "I'll be in my room…drinking tea and thinking." before abruptly leaving and slamming the door behind her.

Uzu chuckled a he laid back in his chair and said, "She can be _so _obvious sometimes…"

"Specify." Hōka stated as he sat down the stack of papers he had in his hand.

"You _seriously _can't tell?" Uzu inquired, sounding surprised.

"Not at all." Hōka replied, "And if you fail to specify then I'm afraid that I don't care."

Uzu chuckled as he responded, "Are you _really _a genius?"

Hōka frowned at the accusation, but then pondered on it for a while, and then realized that there had been much happening right before him that Uzu had picked up on long before he.

"I see those gears turning up there, Hōka." Uzu stated as he indicated to Hōka's head, "They're frozen over, probably because of that icy hair of yours, but they're moving."

"I'm just thankful that I _have_ gears…" Hōka retorted, earning a haughty laugh from Uzu. After a few minutes, Hōka began to fiddle around in his pocket, and he turned to Uzu and inquired, "Oi, do you have a few minutes?"

"Yo!" Uzu replied as he set down the few papers that he had in his hand.

"Do you wanna dodge duty momentarily?" Hōka playfully inquired.

"My my," Uzu mused, "since when is the oh so diligent Hōka Inumuta one to slack off?"

"It's not slacking off," Hōka said as he finished rummaging and pulled out a small speaker-looking device, "it's keeping an eye on the situation."

"Now it's your turn to elucidate, Man-arctica." Uzu stated as he gave a flat look to Hōka.

As Hōka set the speaker down on the table he said, "I bugged Nonon."

"Yeah, and I pissed her off too but how does that translate to-"

Uzu was interrupted by Hōka sharply flicking him on the crown of his head and saying, "No, you imbecile. _Electronically_. As in, I placed a device on her that'll let us hear what she's saying and hearing."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Uzu inquired, genuinely interested.

"The bug itself was easy enough to create," Hōka explained, "it's the object itself that it was difficult getting the bug on to."

"And what's this object that he bug's on?" Uzu inquired.

Hōka began fiddling around in his pockets again and eventually produced a pair of earbuds which he promptly put on the table. "_Think_ Sanageyama, what's something inconspicuous that I could place on her without her getting suspicious?" an amused Hōka inquired.

After a few minutes of Uzu thinking and not saying anything, Hōka sighed and decided to give him a hint. He held up his right index and middle fingers which were right next to each other. Confused at first, Uzu watched as Hōka took those fingers and slid them through his right bangs, eventually stopping and holding them in one spot, as to imitate a bobby pin.

Uzu finally snapped his fingers, and his face lit up with success. He opened his mouth and triumphantly said, "I…got nothing."

Hōka firmly smacked Uzu across the crown of his head and exclaimed, "_**A BOBBY PIN, YOU IGNORAMUS!**_"

"OOooh…" Uzu realized before rubbing the spot where Hōka had smacked.

"And utilizing this one-way speaker," Hōka explained as he plugged the earbuds in and handed one to Uzu, "we'll be able to hear her, but she won't be able to hear us."

"You're smarter than I give you credit for, Hōka." Uzu beamed as he put the earbud in.

"How much did you give me credit for in the first place?" Hōka inquired as he flipped the speaker on and began tuning the frequency.

Uzu chuckled at all this and as he picked up a paper for a condo on West and Sycamore, he thought to himself, _'Wonder if she likes hard wood, or carpeted…'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stonewall's girls locker room was nothing too unorthodox. They had three aisles of lockers, roughly 20 per, all of which weren't solid metal, but metal that was perforated with small diamond shaped holes (security purposes), and a wall of about 30 or so cubbies near the back end. The floor was comprised of black tiles, and the walls were made of brick that had been painted a sickly bright yellow. There were also bathrooms, complete with sinks and a small shower that could fit probably half the cheerleading squad at a time.

Nonon stood in the locker room feeling a bizarre mix of confused and elated. On one hand, she knew she liked Satsuki, but on another, she was unsure of anything about Ryuko. Did she love her? Was it all in her head? And when did Hōka become a 'Good Samaritan'? Nonon faced all these inquiries and more as she slipped out of her shirt and pants and threw them in her locker. She stood in the somewhat chilly locker room in her pink lace matching underwear as she adjusted some minor cosmetic touches on her face.

_'Oh well,' _Nonon thought to herself as he touched up her pale pink lipstick, _'if I'm gonna do this, I might as well look good doing it.' _

After spending tedious minutes adjusting everything she figured she could adjust and/or perfect, she slipped out of her bra, exchanging it for a sports bra, and beginning to rummage around in her locker until she found her undershorts, as well as a pair that she recognized as Satsuki's. She blushed at the thought of how she'd steal these every now and again so Satsuki would have no choice but to go panties only underneath her short and skimpy cheerleader's skirt.

_'Must've forgotten to put these back after yesterday's practice…' _Nonon thought to herself as she held the shorts in her hand. After a few minutes she shrugged and thought, _'oh well. I'll put them back after Matoi leaves and she'll be none the wiser.' _as she tossed them back into their place in her locker.

After donning the full cheerleader get up and performing her 5-minute warm up routine, she heard footsteps approaching, those which she deduced to be Ryuko's. As the raven-haired beauty walked in, Nonon noticed she was wearing a different outfit this time. Instead of that skimpy sailor uniform getup, she had on a thin, black, zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath and skinny blue jeans. An outfit that made her appear lax, yet outgoing and…charming.

Ryuko noticed the starry-eyed gaze she was receiving from her pink counterpart, and set her bag down as she quickly gave herself a once over before saying, "You're seein' something I'm not, and I wanna know what it is."

Nonon shook herself from her trance that this time involved a dashing Ryuko in a full tuxedo getup carrying a certain pink-haired bride across the threshold, and replied, "O-Oh it's just, you're not wearing that sailor uniform."

"You noticed?" Ryuko inquired, somewhat surprised.

"Well," Nonon replied, "you wear it practically every day. And this is the first time I've seen you without it."

"It was dirty, so I wore my backup." Ryuko explained as she sat down on one of the benches that protruded form the wall.

_'It wasn't before?' _Nonon mentally retorted, but kept it to herself as she said, "I see..."

"So," Ryuko began, seemingly disturbed by the awkward air that wafted between the two, "what exactly are we going to do this practice?"

"Well first we need to get you a uniform," Nonon explained as she went through the contents of her locker, eventually producing a uniform that she had picked out given Ryuko's most recent measurements Hōka had obtained from her medical record, "which I have here."

"Wait," Ryuko said as she rose up, "how do you know my-"

"Got your measurements from the doctor's office." Nonon explained, "Your last physical wasn't too long ago, so I just adjusted for…" Nonon glanced at Ryuko's chest before saying, "_certain factors._"

Ryuko cocked her head to the side, but shrugged and accepted the uniform. "Well, thanks then." Ryuko flashed a smile that almost caused Nonon to melt. "So, what else?"

Nonon did her best to keep her knees from giving out, and replied, "Just some basic routines and gymnastics to see if you're cut out for this."

"I don't think we'll have any problem with that…" Ryuko mused as she opened a bare locker and threw her backpack in.

"You sound confident." Nonon replied.

"Do I?" Ryuko inquired, surprised, "That'd be a first." She finished as she threw her sweatshirt in.

"Whaddya mean?" Nonon responded, taking an interest as she dared ease a little closer to the undressing Ryuko.

"Well," Ryuko began as she slipped off her shirt and exposed her blue and white striped bra (which brought a crimson hue to a one Miss Jakuzure's face), "I've always been really bullheaded in my life, and I don't recall as I ever had 'confidence' in anything; it was all spur of the moment. 'Course, most of it worked out, but…some things…" Ryuko held her head a little low as she trailed off, and seemed to be getting immersed in nostalgia.

"R-Ryuko?" Nonon inquired as she shook Ryuko's shoulder. _'There's that feeling again.' _Nonon thought to herself as she withdrew her hand when Ryuko came to, _'Her skin feels soft as creme…'_

"O-Oh, sorry." Ryuko said as she slipped on the cheerleader's top, "Just got, caught up in the moment, that's all."

"That happen often?" Nonon inquired, her face painted with concern.

"Not really," Ryuko replied, "but when it does, it gets to me." Nonon took pity on Ryuko and frowned out of sorrow. "It's fine!" Ryuko reassured as she slid her pants down, bringing back that beautiful crimson hue to Nonon's face, "It doesn't happen really at all. I guess this is a special occasion then, eh?"

"Perhaps…" Nonon droned, trying to hide her elation at the fact that Ryuko had indirectly said she was special.

Nonon couldn't help but be mesmerized by that lovely figure of Ryuko's; even more so now that she was seeing it in the basically nude. She watched out of the corner of her eye, hypnotized by the smooth hip movements Ryuko performed as she slid the cheerleader's skirt up and over that bodacious bottom of hers. "No sports bra? Or undershorts?" Nonon inquired, without stammering out of embarrassment, miraculously.

"Can't afford 'em." Ryuko explained as she straightened out her skirt. "Well," she said as she spun around to expose herself, "how do I look?"

As Nonon spun around to direct her full attention to Ryuko, she realized this was going to be harder than she thought, as she had to concentrate all of her willpower to keep herself from springing a nose bleed. There before her stood quite possibly the purest vision of beauty she had ever laid her eyes on aside from Satsuki. Ryuko stood there, nervously running her right hand through those feathery raven locks, occasionally twiddling the one red one that stood out, with her left hand hanging at her side. The skirt and top hugged her body tightly and firmly, accentuating Ryuko's perfect curves. Her face was blushing slightly at the revealing outfit, and Nonon couldn't help but think, _'You blush over this but not that skimpy sailor's outfit?' _she internally shrugged as she thought, _'Oh well, whatever…it's cute.'_

After a few moments of an awe-struck Nonon miring at Ryuko, Ryuko cocked her head to the side and leaned in close to Nonon and inquired, "Hey, are you alright?"

Nonon snapped herself as much out of it as she could, at least enough to reply, "Y-You look amazing…"

Ryuko felt that mild blush intensify and she lowered her head to hide it as she responded, "Th-Thanks…" after an awkward silence between the two girls, Ryuko perked up enough to say, "Yours looks great, too. It's really cute!"

Nonon hadn't heard that word much used to describe her, so this was a special occasion for sure. Any girl, no any person, that would call her 'cute' out of their own volition without being forced into it or there being some extrapolating circumstance was obviously something. This only added to that weird feeling that Nonon felt for Ryuko. Something that caused her to pine for her in the very depths of her chest, and that made her hurt when they were apart, and made her get all jittery when they were near each other.

"Hey, listen," Nonon softly began, "I-"

"So," Ryuko interrupted, unaware of Nonon speaking, "should we get going?"

Nonon squeaked slightly at the interruption, and Ryuko noticed, saying, "Something wrong?"

Nonon was tempted to say something, but she stowed it and replied, "Forget it, let's just go."

Ryuko flashed a smile and replied, "If you say so…"

Nonon severely underestimated Ryuko's athletic ability, as they ran through various gymnastic and cheerleading routines. Tumble rolls, break falls, cartwheels, you name it, Ryuko aced it with flying colors. Never before had Nonon nor anyone probably seen such deftness, such agility, such a lithe individual in such a womanly figure (save for Satsuki, perhaps. But Ryuko was looking like she could even out do Satsuki, on a good day, no less!). Nonon was left with her mouth agape and her heart now torn more than it ever was. She watched as Ryuko finished a final cheer for an upcoming football game, the last one of the season.

"Cheer them on!" Ryuko exclaimed as she assumed the beginning stance, then stepped forward with her right leg and turned slightly sideways, bent her elbows, and lifted her palms facing upward to make a pumping motion.

"Make 'em hear it!" Ryuko exclaimed, her drawl showing as she pulled her right foot back so that her feet were together, bent her knees, put her left hand on her hip and cupped her right hand to her ear.

"We've got that," Ryuko began as she stepped forward with her right foot to do a low V.

"Stonewall spirit!" Ryuko finished as she crossed her arms over her chest, did a high V, and reassumed her beginning stance.

Nonon couldn't help but clap out of admiration, yet sigh lightly out of amorous intention.

Ryuko walked over to her and inquired, "How was that?" her voice wrought with exuberance and exhilaration.

"Utterly fantastic, I must say." Nonon said as she scoped out the sweaty Ryuko.

"Ya really think so?!" an excited Ryuko replied as she leaned in so close to Nonon that their noses were practically touching.

Nonon wanted to say something that was a bizarre mixture between snide and nice, but was cut short when Ryuko smirked and took advantage of the situation and touched noses with Nonon, making a little 'boop' noise as she did so. Nonon lost it at that one, and was filled with such euphoria that her legs gave way and she began to collapse backwards. Ryuko instantly noticed this, and grabbed Nonon's left hand as she began to fall, and pulled her back up. However, she unintentionally pulled Nonon too hard and Nonon ended up in such a position that her face was just above Ryuko's chest, and she was looking up at her face. Her arms subconsciously wrapped themselves around Ryuko's waist, and held tightly to that creme-like skin. When they came to their sense about what was happening, Ryuko and Nonon both blushed a shade of red that would put fire to shame.

"S-Sorry," Ryuko began still not breaking the embrace, "I just…wanted to save you from falling."

"Y-Yeah…" Nonon said as she gazed into those mesmerizing eyes of Ryuko's, "it's fine…I actually…"

"You what?" Ryuko inquired, lowering her head ever so slightly to listen closely.

"I actually…" Nonon began, doing her best to restrain herself, "liked it."

Ryuko smiled demurely, and chuckled as she said, "Well then maybe you should fall more often, eh?"

Nonon couldn't help but smirk at that, but morph said aforementioned smirk into a genuine smile, and replied, "Maybe…maybe…"

The two held the embrace for awhile longer before it began to look like rain, and Nonon suggested they go back.

When they got to the locker room, Ryuko got changed back into her normal (yet flattering) outfit, and said, "Thanks for this chance, I really do appreciate it."

Nonon smiled at that, and replied, "I'll see you at our next practice. It's in three days. Until then, just keep in shape."

"Oh I will." Ryuko reassured before grabbing her backpack, flashing a smile and then leaving the locker room.

Nonon sighed amorously once again as she too began to change. Slipping off the cheerleader's top and skirt, she casually tossed them in her locker, and then looked at herself in the mirror she had in her locker. She touched up her hair before slipping out of her sports bra and she was about to begin rummaging through her locker to find her actual bra, when suddenly, something happened.

She turned to her right to see Ryuko coming back into the locker room as she called, "Hey! I know this might sound weird, but would you wanna-" Ryuko stopped herself dead in her tracks and dropped her backpack, which was slung over her right shoulder, when she saw the sight before her. A topless Nonon, who was equally as stunned at the situation.

Neither of the two knew what to do. Nonon was too petrified to move her hands to cover her breasts, and Ryuko was too much of a bizarre mix of embarrassed/aroused/mesmerized to do anything herself. Well, at least for a while. After a minute or two of silence between them, Ryuko walked towards the still topless Nonon an stopped right as the two were mere centimeters apart. Ryuko cupped Nonon's chin with her right hand, then slowly traced her hand down to just above Nonon's ample sized breasts.

"You know," Ryuko said as she began to tease her way down, "for a little girl, you've got quite a lot."

As Ryuko slowly traced around Nonon's breast and began to grab and caress it gently, Nonon came to, and instantly realized the situation. She gently grabbed Ryuko's hand to stop her, but Ryuko flashed a devilish grin that suggested she wanted to go further. Nonon smiled, but put Ryuko's hand back at her side and said, "Alright, care to explain why you came back?"

If Ryuko wasn't blushing from the groping, she was sure as hell blushing now. She shyly replied, "Well, I just had something I wanted to ask you."

Nonon looked curious, and she looked into Ryuko's eyes as she inquired, "What is it?"

Ryuko opened her mouth to speak, but words just didn't want to come out. "I…" she began, "You know what?" she corrected herself, "It's probably not a good time right now, what with all," Ryuko looked down at Nonon's still topless body, "this…"

Nonon looked at Ryuko with pining eyes, but smiled and exhaled through her nose as she said, "Alright, then ask me tomorrow."

"Eh?" A shocked Ryuko inquired.

"After school meet me here," Nonon said, "it'll be empty so you can speak your mind without any interference."

Ryuko was shocked at the turn of events, but regained her composure after a few seconds and stated, "Alright. Tomorrow. After school; I'll be here." She smiled, then picked her backpack back up and waved Nonon goodbye.

Nonon returned the gesture, and watched with longing eyes as Ryuko walked away. When she snapped out of her trance, she realized the situation she had just been in, and instantly grabbed for her bra. Upon obtaining it, and her other clothes along with it, she sat down on the floor and leaned up agains the lockers as she thought to herself,

_'What did I just get myself into…?'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Uzu and Hōka both dropped their stacks of paper they were rummaging through at the time when that all ended, and instantly locked eyes with each other. As Hōka stared at Uzu over the rims of his glasses he watched as that Cheshire Cat-esque grin creeped up his face once again.

"I know what you're thinking," Hōka flatly stated, "and let me be the first to tell you this situation is quickly escalating to catastrophe."

"_Entertaining catastrophe_, my dear Hōka." Uzu said, smug as ever as he leaned back in his chair.

"Are you forgetting the original purpose behind your plan!?" Hōka exclaimed as he rose up out of his chair.

"Not at all." Uzu replied as he dusted off the lapel of his suit jacket, "In fact, I don't think things could possibly be better."

"Elucidate!" Hōka demanded, pounding his fist on the mahogany table, getting more and more frustrated by the second.

"If I'm correct, Satsuki isn't gonna take this one lying down…" Uzu replied as he looked up at the ceiling, as if to contemplate something. Whatever it was, he lowered his head with confidence and smugness written all over his face as he said, "In the meantime, get me an extract of this audio and get it to Satsuki ASAP, we need to strike while the iron's hot."

"What are you getting at?" Hōka suspiciously inquired.

"Oh, nothing…" Uzu trailed off in an aloof tone, "Just moving things along, that's all…"

Hōka stared at Uzu for a while, then adjusted his glasses and replied, "I'm already deep in this horrendous predicament with you as it is, no use in becoming a coward now."

"That's my Hōka!" Uzu rallied as he clapped his hands.

"I'll have the file ready by the time we finish this task." Hōka said as he began re-examining papers.

"Excellent…" Uzu mused as he picked up a paper in each hand and inquired, "Hey, do you think she'd prefer something with multiple bedrooms, or just the one?"

"What do you think?" Hōka replied as he incurred a smug grin of his own.

"Multiple." Uzu responded as he threw out the paper in his left hand, "Definitely."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: Remind me to never hire either of those two for anything…._

_Anyways, so it looks like things are heating up between Nonon and Ryuko. But what does this spell for Satsuki?! How is she going to counteract this whole mess?! And what does Ryuko want to ask Nonon?!_

_All these answers and more in the next installment of __**"Lost, but Found"**__!_

_Hope you guys enjoyed and if you did, write a review/follow this story/give it a favorite! Or do all of the aforementioned! Even if you don't though, as I've said plenty of times before, I'll still love you, just for checking this out!_

_I'll see you next time!_


	7. Locker Room Confessions

_A/N: You guys have seriously no idea how much I enjoy reading the reviews you leave. After I posted up that last chapter, I had some things to do so I actually had to (*shudders*) go outside. But when I came back, I came back to all these nice and funny reviews from you guys like always, and it brought a huge smile to my face. _

_There I was at midnight reading reviews and giggling like a schoolgirl as I read them, thinking of you guys and just how lucky I am to have people like you. _

_I know I've said stuff to that accord before, but I figured that I should say it again, because I don't think it gets said enough._

_Alright, all sappiness aside, let's get on to the actual story, eh? I think you're all anxious to see what happens between out characters and frankly, so am I._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So, let me get this straight." Ira began as he leaned back in his chair that looked as thought it would buckle under his sheer stature at any moment, "Nonon is…"

"Head over heels, puppy dog-grade, bug-bitten, top-level smitten, in love with none other than Ryuko Matoi!" Uzu declared as he spun around in his chair, cackling the whole time.

The Elite Four and Satsuki's hideout was nothing more than a small shed off Stonewall's campus that no one ever used anymore. Originally the shack had been utilized to store sports equipment and uniforms, but after it got robbed by some delinquent gang a few times, Stonewall's principal decided that it was hurting the school financially and eventually abandoned it. After some scouting, Hōka thought it the perfect place to set up. After a few hours of man labor (and Uzu…), the shack was now a mess with cords, cables, computers and screens running figures on various data, and a medium sized table in the middle with five fine leather office chairs. Three of which were being occupied by Ira, Hōka, and Uzu.

Ignoring Uzu's laughing fit, Ira turned to Hōka and inquired, "Is this true, Hōka?" he gave Uzu and Hōka a once over as he further inquired, "And why did you two come in yesterday dressed to the nines?"

Hōka adjusted his glasses and a frown perpetually stained his face as he spoke, "Although we only have audio, from their dialogue it is reasonable enough to assume that Nonon is truly very infatuated with Miss Matoi."

"And the suits were because we had some business at Satsuki's." Uzu explained.

"But, if this happens then-" Ira began, concern tainting his voice.

"Don't worry, I've already been over this with him," Hōka droned as he gestured to Uzu, "he says that he's 'moving things along'."

"Which I am!" Uzu retorted, loosing his balance and nearly falling off of his chair in the process.

"If you are, I fail to see how." Ira replied as he wistfully placed his elbows on the table.

"Big talk from the guy who has a sweet spot himself for Matoi's little friend!" Uzu replied, smiling broadly as he watched a slight blush creep up Ira's face.

"**THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!**" Ira shrieked in reply as he buried his face in his hands.

Hōka and Uzu both slid their chairs a little further away from the sulking Ira, and Uzu looked around their colossal friend while giving Hōka a look that said, 'Great minds think alike.' Only to be countered from Hōka over the rims of his glasses that said, 'Just leave him be…' then gestured to the corner of the room to beckon Uzu over there.

Uzu obliged and when they got over there he inquired, "What?"

"I think it's best if we leave Ira there to his own isolation for him to sort out his own dilemmas and conundrums." Hōka explained.

"If you say so…" Uzu trailed off in an aloof tone.

"Look," Hōka began as he adjusted his glasses, "are you sure Satsuki's going to react the way you think she will?"

Uzu grabbed the tip of his chin and hummed as he mulled over the inquiry. "Well," he began, "sure within a region of about 63%."

"63%?!" Hōka exclaimed as he recoiled, nearly hitting his hip on the corner of the table.

"Look at it this way," Uzu said in a reassuring tone, "at least it's better than half!"

"By a minuscule margin!" Hōka silently snapped.

"But a margin just minuscule enough to make a difference." Uzu eloqently retorted as he leaned up against the wall.

Hōka sighed and decided it was best not to argue it. "By the way," Hōka said as he leaned up next to Uzu against the wall, "I have the file ready. I'll present it to Satsuki the next time I see her."

"You might not want to do that." Uzu warned as he twirled a lock of his hair with his right index finger.

"Oh?" Hōka inquired, mildly surprised, "What happened to Mr. 'Show it to Satsuki ASAP'?"

"The same thing that happened to Mr. 'I'll tell you what she eats for breakfast'," Uzu retorted, "except a little different."

"Elucidate." Hōka suspiciously replied.

"It's always 'elucidate' with you," Uzu griped, "maybe you should try something different like…explicate!"

"Your vocabulary suggestions are duly noted," Hōka replied, "but reverting to the original purpose here."

"I just don't think now is the right time…" Uzu explained as he ruffled the collar on his coat, "I'm afraid that if we do that right now, Satsuki will blow more of a gasket than even I anticipated. Said gasket will fly off," Uzu made a gesture of him getting pegged in the head by something, "and hurt us more than anyone."

"Seeing as how we just escaped probation my menial labor, you may have a point." Hōka agreed, worry on his face.

"Of course I do." Uzu said with a grin. Hōka, disgusted as ever at Uzu's confidence, watched on as Uzu continued, "No, we have to wait for just the right moment. And when that moment comes, I'll tell you, trust me."

Hōka huffed out of indifference, and then replied, "Very well…I'll…" Hōka almost gagged at the words on his lips, "_trust your judgement_."

"See?" Uzu said as he patted Hōka on the back, "Was that so hard?"

"Extremely." Hōka deadpanned.

"Of course it wasn't!" Uzu responded, disregarding Hōka's snide retort.

It was at that moment that the doors to the shed swung open, and in walked the woman of the hour herself; Nonon Jakuzure. Except, this Nonon had a different air about her than normally. Nonon usually exuded spite, snideness, and cockiness; more so than even Uzu. And she usually walked in, made some rude remark to Uzu or Hōka, jeered at Ira, and then kicked back and relaxed until Satsuki arrived. But not today.

Today, Nonon was upbeat, cheery, and gave off a sort of euphoria so rarely found among the plebeian world that it was highly sought after, and manifested itself in only one particular emotion. An emotion that Nonon had been feeling ever since her little encounter with Ryuko yesterday in the locker room.

_'Even her hands are silky smooth…'_ Nonon thought as she remembered the subtle caress of Ryuko's hands on her breasts, and how she groped them not too hard, but hard enough to ensure pleasure, _'and they weren't cold, despite her being outside that long…they were actually really warm…'_

Nonon swooned over the thought of her raven haired mistress, and noticeably so.

"My my," Uzu slyly commented as he walked towards Nonon, who was spinning around in her chair, giggling all the while,"what's got the Snake so upbeat today?"

"Oh, shut it Monkey," Nonon retorted, still sounding cheery while insulting Uzu, "not even you can get me down today."

"Big talk from a little Snake." Uzu remarked, causing Nonon to stop her spinning and cut the happiness to face Uzu, "Would this have something to do with your cheerleading escapades with a one Miss Ryuko Matoi, would it?"

Nonon tried her best to hide her blush as she replied, "Wh-What are you talking about, Idiot Monkey?"

"Oh, nothing…" Uzu trailed off in an almost musical tone, "It's just you seem so upbeat ever since that cheerleading practice, that I'm beginning to wonder if something happened between you and Ryuko."

Nonon could no longer conceal the blush, and wailed, "**IF IT DID, THEN IT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!**"

"Ah, so you don't deny it!" Uzu declared, eliciting a sigh from Hōka and Ira.

"I thought I told you it wasn't any of your damn business?" Nonon snapped, asserting her full chest-level size stature against Uzu.

"Nothing's ever really my business to begin with," Uzu replied in an aloof tone, "I just make it my business."

Nonon jumped and thwacked Uzu on the crown of his head, and Hōka picked his tablet off of a nearby table and muttered, "Adding that one to the chart…"

"You actually made one?" Uzu inquired, halfways surprised, halfways not.

"I said I would, didn't I?" Hōka replied as he set his tablet down.

Uzu smirked at that and replied, "So you did…" returning his attention to the woman of the our, he cooed as he walked circles around Nonon, "Aww, does wittle Non-Non wanna give Wyuko a wittle," he rested he hands on her shoulders and began to say, "ki-" but was cut short by Nonon driving her right elbow into Uzu's gut, causing him to exhale out of pain and fall to his knees as he clenched his gut.

"For-" Uzu uttered in between breathless hacks, "For your information, I saw that coming from a mile away."

"Hmph," Nonon huffed, "then why didn't you dodge it?"

Uzu rose to his feet and replied, "I don't know. I guess because I figured I deserved it." Nonon cocked her head to the side out of curiosity and Uzu continued, "I don't know what I did, and I don't know when I did it, but I probably deserve it for _something_…"

"I can get you veritable chart," Hōka mumbled, "complete with a dichotomous key…"

"That set aside," Uzu began as he dusted off and disregarded Hōka's comment, "where's Satsuki?"

"Satsuki's mother came home today." Ira said, suddenly arisen form his slump, much to the shock of everyone there.

"So Mrs. Kiryuin is back in town, eh?" Uzu cockily inquired.

"Yes," Ira replied, "and you know how they are; always have to spend the day together when she's back in town."

"I guess I can compliment them on that…" Uzu grumbled as he dusted off his coat and tugged at his cadet blue vest.

"_Guess_?" Ira inquired, sounding quite disappointed, "It's familial loyalty! And they barely get to see each other as it is!"

"Cry me a river…" Uzu retorted as he kicked back in his chair.

Ira felt every muscle in his body tense up out of fury and rage as he rose up to make a move on the Sanageyama. Hōka darted to the scene and outstretched his arm in front of Ira and said, "It's not worth it. Trust me, I've tried…"

Ira scowled at Uzu who shrugged and shot a devilish grin back at him as he sat down.

"You know, as much fun as it is watching shit hit the fan here," Nonon began as she stood up, "I'm gonna go, I have…things to do…"

As Nonon got up and walked away, Uzu called after her, "Pics or it didn't happen!" to which Nonon responded with a sole finger, the middle one, as she continued her trot towards the door.

"You disgust me sometimes…" Ira mumbled as he gazed over to Uzu.

"_Sometimes?_" Hōka muttered in reply, eliciting a light chuckle from the Sanageyama.

Nonon simply huffed at all this mess and thought to herself, _'Well that was easy. Now to just get to the locker room and-'_

"Out of mild curiosity," Hōka called right before Nonon was out the door, stopping her dead in her tracks and simultaneously interrupting her thought train, "what possible business could you have right as Stonewall's about to be let out?"

"Uh…" Nonon stammered, "sh-shut it Doggie, this doesn't concern you!"

"Does it really not?" Hōka retorted as he leaned his right hand on the table, "Because I'm pretty sure our affairs should be collectively mutual in their nature. Or knowledge of them, at least. Without proper cooperation and communication, this group will surely fail."

Nonon recoiled a bit at Hōka's remark, and Uzu clapped in approval as he said, "My my Hōka, icier than ever, I see."

"Like an icicle, my dear Sanageyama," Hōka replied with a smug grin crawling up his face, "and sharp as one to boot."

With the group all collectively staring Nonon down, she was sweating enough bullets to supply an entire platoon.

"Miss Jakuzure!" Ira boomed, "I demand you divulge the details of what you are about to do, right now!"

Nonon took a few steps back, now completely out of the doorway, and some words began to form on her lips. Just as she was about to complete whatever she was going to say, she cut it short and slammed the door behind her as she said, "See ya~!" and ran off.

Ira began to make a few steps forward, but Hōka stopped him yet again and said, "Don't worry, we'll still be able to keep an eye on her…"

Uzu snickered as he replied, "We could always use some more material…" and rose up out of his chair, "Plus, it's _entertaining _material…"

"God, you're hopeless…" Hōka chuckled sarcastically as he rummaged around in his pocket and produced the speaker.

"What are you two getting at?" Ira said, mighty suspicious.

"That was a nice bobby pin she was wearing, wouldn't you say so, Uzu?" Hōka inquired as he turned and gave a smirk to Uzu.

Uzu returned that smirk and replied, "Just fabulous…" as he gave Hōka a friendly high five.

"So that bobby pin was…" Ira began as he looked at the speaker.

"The bug I planted on her yesterday." Hōka replied as he pulled up a seat and began to tune the frequency of the speaker.

"Somehow I knew she would still be wearing it…" Uzu mused as he too pulled up a seat next to the speaker.

"Did you honestly expect anything else?" Hōka retorted calmly, "Or did you know this would happen?"

"Somewhere between those two," Uzu replied, "I'll tell you when I figure it out."

"I'll be waiting…" Hōka trailed off as he finally found the right frequency. "Alright, listen up!"

"This is gonna be good…" Uzu mused as every crowded in and listened up.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon sat in the locker room, leaned up against the wall and feverishly awaiting Ryuko's arrival. She played with her hair as she contemplated everything that Ryuko could possibly want to ask her, including certain things that she herself would've normally thought absolutely ridiculous. She let out a small yawn as she looked at the time on her phone.

_'What the hell?' _Nonon thought to herself as she scanned the locker room and shoved her phone back in her pocket, _'Classes should be over by now, what' s going on?' _ she slammed her foot against the locker behind her and let out a small wail out of amorous sorrow and disappoint. _'Calm down, Nonon,' _Nonon reassuringly thought to herself, _'she's probably got a good reason for being late…' _upon that thought, Nonon had a sudden burst of realization. _'Unless this was all a ploy,' _Nonon thought as she rose up from her sitting position, _'and she was doing all of this just to fuck with my heart, that-' _

Before Nonon could finish her sentence, a familiar voice called her and said, "Hey, sorry I'm late…"

Nonon looked down to see a stunning sight awaiting her at the other end of the aisle, dressed to the nines in a flattering tuxedo. The undershirt was just tight enough that it perfectly accentuated Ryuko's ample breasts, and the jet black pinstriped jacket over it wasn't too oppressive, nor was it too submissive. The matching trousers were tight on Ryuko's long, perfect legs, and in exchange for her normal green sneakers, she wore polished dress shoes.

There Ryuko stood, scratching the back of her head with her right hand, somewhat embarrassed by the outfit, and leaving Nonon swooning over this vision of loveliness before her. "I hope you like this…" Ryuko demurely said, "I don't often wear stuff like this, but Mako let me borrow her dad's, so I figured, 'why not?'".

Ryuko shyly chuckled as she advanced towards Nonon, who was frozen yet again out of shock at what stood before her. "Uh, Uh…" Nonon stammered, fearing that if she attempted to form a coherent sentence, it would ruin the whole moment.

Disregarding that assumption, Nonon managed to pipe up and say, "S-So, what is it?"

Ryuko stiffened up, and froze in her tracks as she replied, "O-Oh, getting right to the point I see…"

Nonon cocked her head to the side out of confusion and inquired, "Something wrong?"

"N-No, it's not that…" Ryuko trailed off as she continued to walk towards Nonon, her feet unsteady all the way, "It's just that, well…"

"Ok, now I _know_ something's wrong." Nonon said with a small grin as she met Ryuko halfway in the middle and grabbed her left arm with her right hand.

Ryuko looked down at the pinkette, and smiled as she said, "If you must know, I was scared."

"Scared? Of little me?" Nonon coyly replied. Ryuko chuckled, and Nonon inquired, "What could you possibly be scared of?"

"I was just scared of what ya would say when I asked you what I was about to ask ya." Ryuko replied, desperately trying to conceal her blush.

Nonon smiled as she wrapped her hands around Ryuko's waist, and delicately pushed some of Ryuko's ravishing raven locks (her one red one inclusive) out of her face and tracing its frame. "Don't be scared, I come off as snippy but I'm not all that bad."

"Same." Ryuko replied with a small chuckle, eliciting the same from Nonon.

"Go ahead," Nonon said, ever so delicately, "and whatever it is, I'll do my best to not get mad."

"I _guess _that's reassuring…" Ryuko playfully teased.

The air between Nonon and Ryuko seemed to have a bizarre feeling wafting through it, one that was so desperately sought after by so many people. Time seemed frozen, and nothing else mattered. Ryuko steeled her nerves, and began to utter the words that would make or break her.

"Nonon Jakuzure," Ryuko shakily began, "'seems that you feel the same way about you, no wait," Ryuko said as she thumped herself on the forehead with her free hand, "i-it seems that you feel the same way about me, as I feel about me-no! Agh!" Ryuko was about to thump herself again before Nonon grabbed her hand mid-swing and slowly lowered it back to her side.

"I think what you're trying to say is that we feel the same way about each other, am I right?" Nonon carefully inquired.

"Yeah! That's it!" Ryuko said as she snapped her fingers. She realized how worked up she was getting over the matter and quickly said, "Sorry, I'm getting too worked up over this, aren't I?"

Nonon giggled and replied, "No, it's fine. It's really cute, actually."

Ryuko tensed up and blushed even deeper at the word 'cute', and could only stammer out a weak (but heartfelt), "Th-thanks…" in reply.

Ryuko then straightened up, asserting her fully height advantage over Nonon, and began to proudly inquire, "Nonon, I know this might seem sudden, and I don't know if your up for it, but would you…" Ryuko took a deep breath as she continued, "go out with m-"

Ryuko was cut short, but she knew the answer when she feel sweet-as-cherry lips on hers. It was then that Ryuko realized that in the middle of her little monologue, Nonon had taken the time to rise up on her tiptoes so that she could be at kissing level with Ryuko. Taking advantage of said kissing level, Nonon had slowly, but surely, moved her mouth closer and closer to Ryuko's, eventually locking their lips together in what Nonon felt was one of the best kisses she'd ever had.

It was warm and encapsulating, and caused both parties to completely shut off the world around them, focusing only on the intense heat of passion begin generated betwixt them. Ryuko instantly knew that it was a 'yes', and took advantage of that to deepen the kiss, as they unlocked and locked lips in a gentle flurry of kisses, each one better than the one before. On one significantly long one, Ryuko took the opportunity and begged entrance for her tongue. Nonon was shaky at first, but obliged the offer, and their tongues intertwined, swirling around in one another's mouth as they continued to kiss, the flame of their romance only intensifying with each passing second.

Taking a second, the two broke their kiss to catch their breath, still momentarily linked by a single dangling strand of saliva that hung between the two before it broke and dangled on Ryuko's face. Nonon couldn't help but crack a small giggle at that, and pointed to the remains that tainted Ryuko's chin. Ryuko blushed at the fact and quickly used her free arm to rub it away, lowering down and burying her head in Nonon's shoulder out of embarrassment. Nonon carefully caressed Ryuko's head, running her right hand up and down through Ryuko's marvelously feathery do, whispering sweet nothings to her to comfort her.

After a minute or two of this, Nonon said, "Time and date?"

"Eh?" Ryuko inquired, too caught up in the euphoria to hear what Nonon was saying.

"For our date, silly." Nonon said as she turned her head to look at Ryuko in the eyes. "What time, and when?"

"Oh! Uh…" Ryuko said as she began to think hardly. After a few minutes, she shyly looked to Nonon and inquired, "Got any ideas?"

Nonon sighed and playfully said, "You're hopeless…"

"_Hey_…" Ryuko just as playfully responded, and the two took a seat on the ground, Ryuko's arm around Nonon as she held her tight, and placed her chin on her head while the two leaned up agains the lockers.

"How about tomorrow, after school?" Nonon suggested, and she could feel Ryuko's jaw move as she allowed a smile to cross her lips.

"Yeah, that sounds great…" Ryuko amorously trailed off. After a minute, she had a moment of realization, then lowered her head to get on eye level with Nonon and exuberantly declared, "I've got it!"

"What?" And equally as exuberant Nonon inquired.

"I know a little park a few blocks from here," Ryuko began, "it's a nice little place with benches, a lake, and beautiful trees and flowers that should be in bloom around this time of year and, oh, the whole place is just bursting with beautiful things!" Nonon and Ryuko were both equally overjoyed at the suggestion, but Ryuko calmed down for a second and put on her most charming grin as she locked eyes once again with Nonon, got in close enough that their noses touched and said, "I guess tomorrow, I'll have to add one more thing to it's list of beautiful things."

Nonon was instantly flushed with a tomato red blush, but she countered the compliment with another and donned her own charming grin as she said, "_Two_, you mean."

This time, it was Ryuko who was flushed. But she shook it off, and giggled as she said, "Then it's a date." as she leaned in and the couple locked lips yet again.

However, in the very dark recesses of Nonon's mind, she couldn't help but think, _'What did I just get myself into…'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Either my hearing's going bad," Uzu began as Hōka began to pack up the speaker and he kicked his feet up on the table in its place, "or I just heard that Snake and Matoi have a saucy little date tomorrow."

"Your hearing is (unfortunately) as good as ever…" Hōka droned as he sighed at the whole situation.

"So, still 'moving things along' Uzu?" Ira angrily inquired.

"As a matter of fact, yes my dear Mr. Gamagōri." Uzu confidently replied as he lowered his head and began messing with his hair.

"If you are, I fail to see how!" Hōka exclaimed as he slammed his hand on the table.

"Lighten up, Inumuta," Uzu reassuringly said, "I had this all planned out for ahead of time."

"You did?" A surprised Ira and Hōka inquired in unison.

"Absolutely." Uzu confidently answered, "We just have to make the right moves and Matoi will be _all over_ Satsuki…"

Hōka and Ira gave dubious looks to Uzu, but sighed and figured they might as well not fight it. "Alright," Ira began, "I don't know why but you have my full cooperation in this endeavor."

"Why thank you." Uzu (almost) genuinely replied. He then turned to Hōka and said, "Hōka, we might as well get this going as soon as possible, no?"

"I don't see why not." Hōka replied as he raised an eyebrow at the comment.

"Excellent," Uzu said as he clapped his hands together, "get me this audio, ASAP. We have a certain someone to show it to…someone who I think is going to absolutely love it…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: And another one bites the dust at the clutches of the dashing and debonaire Uzu Sanageyama._

_There, I opened the A/N like you wanted, happy?_

"Well, it could've used better delivery-"

_Great, thanks see ya later, Uzu!_

_Now that he's gone, let's get a proper A/N going, eh?_

_So Nonon and Ryuko have a date coming up, I wonder how that's going to turn out…And Uzu seems pretty keen on showing those audio files to a certain someone, and I think we all know who that is. The question is, how will they react? And what are these 'right moves' that Uzu spoke of? Most importantly, what is Nonon gonna wear on the date?_

_All of these answers and more in the next chapter of __**'Lost, but Found'**__!_

_Thanks to all of you for reading, and (side note): we've reached 6,000+ views so far!_

_That's double the greatest amount of views I've ever gotten on any fic I've ever written before and you guys definitely have my thanks for that. You guys are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, absolutely amazing. _

_So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for all the positive feedback, all the follows, all the reviews, all the favorites, all the everything. _

_And I will do my absolute best to keep supplying you guys with more of this and other many great works to come, this, I swear._

_So, if you haven't already, why not write a review for this story/follow it/favorite it/all of the above? It would absolutely make my day and I hope it would make you guys happy as well. If you don't, that's fine, I still love you just for checking out this for the time that you did._

_I hope you guys have a fantastic day/week/month/year of your life and I will see you in the next chapter!_

_Until then!_


	8. A Park Date (Gone Wrong)

_A/N: Ok, ok, everyone take a step back and relax…your good buddy the Author has everything under control._

_Ye of little faith…I mean, you guys honestly think I'd write myself into a hole? A pitfall? A trap that would significantly alter the entire future of this fic?_

_[BUZZER NOISE] Nope! Not in a million years!_

_Everything that's happened so far has all been according to plan; the romance, the kisses, the everything was all just how I planned it. I just didn't show it too well, and for that, I apologize._

_On another note, I think you guys are gonna like how this chapter goes… ;)_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"What time are they supposed to get here?" Ira inquired as he readjusted his position behind a bush. "And where the hell is Uzu?"

Hōka whipped out his phone, and, in one motion, checked the time on it and slid it back in his pocket. "Stonewall just let out, they should be here any minute now," Hōka began as he too readjusted his position behind the bush, "as for Uzu, hell if I know. He said something about he had to 'go raise a flag', and then darted off before we left for here."

The park that the date had been scheduled in was not more than three blocks away from Stonewall, about five minute's walking distance, and was quite possibly the most beautiful park anyone had ever laid eyes on. It had a sidewalk that ran through the vast expanse, it was littered with beautiful flowering trees of all shapes and sizes, fresh, cleanly cut green grass, flowers of any species whose very essence completely engulfed you in a warm, serene feeling, and a small lake in the middle where a few benches were and where swans and geese flocked to rest on the tranquil and placid surface. Cool, crisp spring breezes never ceased, and as you walked down the aforementioned sidewalk, it would bring you to a stretch which was completely lined with cherry blossom trees. As you walked step by step, you could watch as cherry blossom petals gently floated down to the earth below them, blanketing the concrete like fine, pink snow. It had become locally known as the 'Sakura Path', utilizing the Japanese word for cherry blossom to pay homage to the town's rich Japanese history. However, at the immediate moment, the park had two unusual visitors. And those would be none other than Ira and Hōka who were, at the time, huddled behind a bush at the entrance to the park.

"Any ETA on Uzu?" Ira inquired as he took the opportunity to peek over their bush.

"Again, hell if I know," Hōka replied as he stood up and leaned up against a nearby tree, "and don't even think of asking me about the whole 'raising a flag' thing, because I can't think of it myself."

"I guess we can only hope that he arrives in a timely manner." Ira sighed in conclusion. After a second of silence between the two, Ira caught something out of the corner of his eye, then grabbed Hōka by his jacket and slammed him to the ground along with him.

As Hōka smarted over that, he snippily inquired, "What was that for?"

"Sh!" Ira replied in a hushed tone and then pushed a small peephole in the bush, "They're here!"

"Explicate, Heather O'Rourke." Hōka whispered in reply.

"Nonon and Matoi, ignoramus," Ira responded as he pointed his finger out of the peephole, and the silhouettes of a finely dressed Ryuko and Nonon holding hands and beginning to walk in the park.

"Alright, here." Hōka said as he handed Ira a small wireless earpiece. "Put this in, it's linked up to the speaker, so we'll be able to keep an eye on their audio."

"You have one for yourself and Uzu I presume?" Ira said as he put the earpiece in.

"What kind of person would I be if I didn't?" Hōka replied as he adjusted his own earpiece and finished tuning the frequency on the speaker in his pocket.

"Alright, let's see how this goes, eh?" an unusually excited Hōka inquired, only to be responded to with a grunt of agreement from Ira.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ryuko was dressed, dashing as ever, wearing a classy blue overshirt that tightly clung to Ryuko and made it a challenge for Nonon to not look at those perfect breasts that looked as though they were about to burst out of their confines any minute, a tight pair of khaki dress pants that were perfectly form fitting to Ryuko's legs, and her signature green sneakers.

Nonon, in contrast, wore a somewhat loose pink blouse with a black collar, a white skirt with lace trim that came up just above her knees, and black knee high socks with matching black sneakers.

The two gazed fervently into one another's eyes as they slowly trotted along, giggling as they reached the entrance to the park.

"What'd I tell ya?" Ryuko said as they began their stroll down the concrete path.

"You weren't lying," Nonon replied as the two carefully sung their intertwined hands back and forth between them, "it really is beautiful."

"Yeah," Ryuko concurred, "but not as beautiful as you." she said as she locked eyes with Nonon.

As Nonon gazed on at Ryuko, the gentle spring breeze picked up a little, enough to cause that feathery, shaggy do of Ryuko's to waft about her face. Nonon couldn't help but think that that made Ryuko all the more beautiful. Meanwhile, over in the shrub, silent gags were being made by our friends Hōka and Ira.

"O-Oh, I'm not all that great…" Nonon demurely replied, turning her head to look down the path in a feeble attempt to hide her blush.

Ryuko frowned at Nonon's self-putdown, and grabbed her chin and turned her face to face her before leaning in and planting a passionate kiss on Nonon's rosy pink lips. They held that kiss for roughly seven seconds before Ryuko said, "Don't ever say you aren't beautiful again, ok?"

Nonon lightly grazed her bottom lip with her right index and middle fingers before smiling and replying, "Yeah. Gotcha!"

"Excellent!" Ryuko exclaimed, more exhilarated than ever before as she dashed onwards with Nonon in tow.

Meanwhile, in the bushes, Hōka and Ira were voicing their own personal opinions about the previous happenings.

"That was sweet enough to gag Willy Wonka…" Hōka coldly said as rose up and watched the couple trod off.

"I'm actually kind of glad Uzu wasn't here…" Ira concurred.

"As much as I share that sympathy in more than this situation, I must inquire why that is." Hōka replied as he stepped over the bush and onto the sidewalk.

As Ira too stepped over and asserted his full stature above Hōka he replied, "Well, that's normally the time when Uzu would make some immature comment, or chuckle in that effeminate way he always does."

"For your information," a voice from behind Hōka and Ira called, "my chuckles are _not_ effeminate, they're _annoying_! Get it right!"

"I knew it was too good to be true…" Hōka muttered as Ira and he turned around to see Uzu in his usual get up, looking extra cocky today.

"Uzu?" Ira inquired as he looked at the white-clad schemer.

"One and the same," Uzu replied as he took a small bow, "in the flash, the real deal, and all that."

"Your presence is somewhat reassuring…" Hōka trailed off as he gazed down the path at the couple who were long gone by now.

"Duly noted, my dear Hōka." Uzu replied as he rose from his bow and gazed down the path as well. After a few seconds, he placed his right hand on Hōka's left shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I raised the proper flag."

"There you go with that flag nonsense again," Ira said as he looked down at Uzu, "what's it all about?"

"If I'm correct," Uzu began as he began to chuckle lightly, "we'll see the effects of my flag in a little while."

"Just like you to not give a hint." Hōka said in reply as he reverted his gaze to the group.

"Well that would ruin the surprise, now wouldn't it?" Uzu retorted with his usual smug grin.

"This is some sort of sick surprise to you?!" Ira shrieked in inquiry.

"Well it's not a surprise to _me_," Uzu replied, "since I set it up and all. Think, man!"

As Hōka and Ira collectively sighed, Uzu threw his arms around the two's shoulders (well, Hōka's shoulder, Ira swatted his arm away when it got near him), and said, "Now, shall we pursue?"

"What did you think we were going to do?" Ira sarcastically inquired.

"Honestly…" Hōka said as he adjusted his glasses.

As the group began to walk on, Hōka whispered to Uzu out of earshot of Ira, "Why do I get the feeling like I know what you did?"

"Because you probably do." Uzu nonchalantly replied as he strutted next to the icy-haired genius, taking a second to mire at the beauty of the trees as they passed them by.

At those words, Hōka froze in his tracks, and bowed his head as he began to lightly chuckle. When he rose it back up and unzipped his turtleneck, a broad grin was clearly painted on his face, and he managed to utter out, "Pardon the vulgar vernacular, but shit's _really _going to hit the fan, isn't it?" though his chuckle.

Uzu joined in the laughter as he replied, "Indeed it is, buddy. Indeed it is…"

As the duo's laughter began to take on a more lighthearted tone, and a louder volume, Ira turned back to them and inquired, "What is it now?!"

The pair ceased their giggle fest and Uzu cockily replied, "The real question here Mr. Titan, is 'what _isn't _it'?"

Ira fumed at the Sanageyama's impudence, and was about to take a swing on him when Uzu deftly pranced ahead, deviating from the concrete pathway as he called, "This way! I know where they're going to end up and I know a shortcut to that place!" before dashing off into the distance.

Hōka sighed and begrudgingly began to chase after him as Ira exclaimed, "You're trusting him?!"

"Crazier things have happened!" Hōka called in reply before vanishing off into the distance as well.

Ira sighed and facepalmed as he followed suit and exclaimed, "Wait for me!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey, I forgot to ask you something." Nonon began as the two continued down the path, passing a tranquil little stream that lead into the lake at the end of the path.

As the spring air wafted through Ryuko's hair again, Ryuko looked down at Nonon and replied, "What's that?"

"Um," Nonon began, stoping the two in their tracks right underneath a cherry blossom tree, "how did you first find this place?"

"Oh…" Ryuko demurely replied as she turned her head upwards to this tree, a single cherry blossom petal falling on her nose, "I used to sleep here."

Nonon looked at Ryuko with eyes full of sorrow, and said, "Oh yeah…you're homeless…"

"You knew?" a surprised Ryuko inquired, the petal still on the tip of her nose.

"Hōka told me." Nonon explained with a slight shrug.

"That nosy bastard…" Ryuko muttered as she balled her free hand into a fist.

"Yeah, but he means well, I guess." Nonon consoled as she leaned her head up against Ryuko's arm.

At the sight of the adorable doll leaning on her arm, Ryuko felt a calming aura come about her, and she wrapped her arms around Nonon, consumed in the amour of the moment.

"So, how long?" Nonon inquired.

"How long what?" Ryuko replied.

"How long did you sleep here?" Nonon inquired.

Ryuko looked up at the sky, oh how blue and melancholic it was, and replied, "Jeez, that was a while ago…I think that was the beginning of sophomore year that I did that."

"And how long did it last?" Nonon replied, her morose voice causing Ryuko's very being to tremble.

"I think until the beginning of this year, actually." Ryuko said, chuckling lightly and scratching at the nape of her neck with her free hand. She then gazed off at the vast expanse of the park, nostalgia overwhelming her as a veritable tsunami of memories came back to her. "Jeez, being back here brings it all back…" Ryuko trailed off, her gaze fixated on dead space.

"Oh really?" Nonon replied, turning her gaze off into the distance as well.

"Yeah…" Ryuko wistfully replied, "I remember it all…I remember the walk back to here from school that I took every day, and how there was this one dog," Ryuko chuckled at the thought, "there was this one dog, that _always_ tried to steal my bag. Eventually though, the dog began to go after other things of mine. He tried stealing my skirt once."

"Shut up!" Nonon retorted as she gave Ryuko a little shove and the couple began to giggle.

"I'm serious!" Ryuko replied through her giggle, "I was walking along one day, and the dog just randomly begins to bite at my skirt. You know, the one on my sailor uniform?"

As Nonon laughed at the whole ordeal, the naughty part of her couldn't help but fantasize about a skirtless Ryuko, fleshy buttocks exposed, barely covered by those adorable blue and white striped panties of hers.

"I remember takin' shelter under the trees," Ryuko reminisced as the spring breeze picked up a little bit, enough to whip Ryuko's hair around at least, "I remember having to bathe myself using only a bowl and the lake water, scrounging up meals from the trash or making the occasional excursion into town to raid restaurant dumpsters, having to patch up that sailor uniform of mine by myself using needles I found in the garbage and yarn I'd steal from the sewing store, and I remember…" Ryuko lowered her head as the breeze calmed down a little bit, "the loneliness…"

Nonon was on the brink of tears, as were the rest of the Elite Four over in a nearby bush (Uzu especially). "S-So," Nonon began, holding back the tears, "why did you leave?"

"That's the weird part." Ryuko replied as she rose her head and scratched her chin, "There was this guy I met there, and we got to talking. Nothin' romantic, just casual friends. And he became kinda like my guru. Well, after awhile, the guy picked up his act and got a job and a house. I was happy for him, but I was sad that I wouldn't be seeing him anymore." Ryuko began to chuckle, "Surprise in my eyes when I found out that Aikuro Mikisugi was gonna be my teacher."

"What?!" Nonon exclaimed out of surprise, her exclamation covering up those of the rest of the Elite Four.

"Yep." Ryuko replied with a smile, "Before leaving, he told me to evac, since they were gonna start patrolling this place. Since I trusted his word, I had no choice. And nowadays, he still comes to visit me at my current place every now and again, no matter where I am."

"Well, that little unfinished lounge is pretty convenient, I guess…" Nonon trailed off, realizing what she had just said.

"How did you know that's where I'm staying?" Ryuko inquired, menacingly curious.

"Oh, shit…" Uzu muttered over in the bush, only to have Hōka's hand clasp over his mouth.

"_Sh!_" Hōka sharply reprimanded.

"Uh," Nonon began, dodging eye contact as much as possible, "well…"

"Oh, _I get it now…_" Ryuko said as she allowed a devilish grin to come across her face.

"Y-You do?" Nonon gulped.

"Absolutely…" Ryuko trailed off. After a few moments, Ryuko continued, "You had Uzu and Hōka stalk me, didn't you?!"

Nonon felt a wave of relief hit her, and Hōka and Ira had to hold Uzu back from getting at Ryuko. "Oh, uh, yeah, that's it!" Nonon nervously concurred.

"Yep, ya gotta get up _pretty _early in the morning to put one past Ryuko Matoi." Ryuko said as she smirked and coyly popped the collar on her shirt, putting it down when she got a stern look from Nonon.

It was at that moment that Nonon finally noticed the cherry petal on Ryuko's nose after a few minutes and said, "Um…" as she pointed to Ryuko's nose.

"Hm?" Ryuko said as she looked down at her nose, the petal just out of her peripheral vision.

Nonon opened her mouth to speak, but instantly closed it as she grinned and leaned in close to Ryuko's face. Ryuko, expecting a kiss, puckered her lips ever so gently, awaiting the sweet embrace of Nonon's lips. Waiting, waiting, waiting…Ryuko's surprise was not a kiss when she opened her eyes, but Nonon's face, a smug smirk that was almost of Uzu-caliber painting it, as she blew a puff of warm in her face, the petal wafting off into the distance.

"Wha-" Ryuko stuttered as she grabbed her nose with her free hand.

Nonon giggled and said, "You had a petal on your nose, but I got it."

Ryuko frowned a pouty, yet playful, frown as she shook Nonon about a bit and said, "Oh you tease…"

Nonon began to laugh as she said, "Can you blame me, though?"

Ryuko stopped shaking Nonon, and gave her a genuine smile as she said, "Well, thanks, I guess."

"Oh, it was nothing-" Nonon began before Ryuko interrupted,

"No, not for that."

"Then what for?" Nonon inquired, very confused.

"Because," Ryuko began as the two began their walk, "now I'm probably the only woman who can say she got blown by another woman."

A small giggle emitting from Uzu (who else…) at that remark, and a small whack from Hōka could both be heard if one had listened closely. But Nonon and Ryuko couldn't hear the immature man's laughter over the raucous sound of their own.

After a few minutes, the couple began to see a greater and greater amount of cherry blossom trees, until it got to the point where the path was solid cherry blossoms, their petals blanketing the ground like fresh snow.

"This is…" Nonon breathlessly began as she marveled at the beauty.

"Sakura Path…" Ryuko finished as her face lit up with a smile.

The two held their intertwined hands even tighter as they dashed down the path, the scent of the blossoms was borderline overwhelming, but borderline mind you. It was somewhere at that balance between annoying and pleasant, a feature not found anywhere else. Ryuko gave Nonon a tango style spin as they reached the halfway point, and locked eyes, smiling gently at one another before locking their lips. However, in the middle of their kiss, right before Ryuko was about to deepen it, a small noise could be heard from the bushes along the path.

_"Achoo!"_

Ryuko and Nonon broke their kiss, and looked over in the direction of the bushes suspiciously.

"Who's there!?" Ryuko exclaimed, holding Nonon tight as she continued, "Show yourself, pervert!"

After a minute or two of no response, Ryuko kneeled down, picked up a stone, and tossed it over in the bushes, then grabbed Nonon's hand as she said, "C'mon, to the lake."

Nonon nodded in compliance, and the two dashed off down the path until their silhouettes were none but cherry blossom petals.

The Elite Four waited until it was all clear before rising up out of their hiding spot.

"Ow…" Uzu bruised as he rubbed the crown of his head where Ryuko's rock hit him.

"It's too bad I don't have my tablet," Hōka mused as he dusted the leaves off of his jacket, "or I'd add that one to the chart."

"That doesn't count," Uzu defended as he stopped rubbing his head, "it was a stone, not a direct hit."

"I don't think you have any room to brood," Hōka retorted sharply, "as you were the one who almost compromised us!"

"Indeed," Ira concurred, "you got what was coming to you."

"Hey, is it _my fault_ that I'm allergic to-" Uzu began before pausing to sneeze, "that I'm allergic to cherry blossoms?! Oh, and no 'bless you'?" he finished with a sly smirk.

"When you don't tell us," Hōka replied, "yes."

"And you don't deserve a 'bless you', Uzu." Ira added, his arms crossed out of disciplinary intent.

"Fine," Uzu replied as he looked at the time on his phone and chuckled lightly, "it's almost time…"

Hōka donned a smug grin of his own and replied, "Finally…"

"Almost time for what?" Ira inquired as he lowered himself to the level of the duo.

"Oh nothing," Uzu began as he walked off with Hōka, "just time for the flag to take effect…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ryuko and Nonon sat on the park bench nearest to the lake. On the placid surface, devoid of any scum or the like, and so clear that you could see practically to the bottom, several geese and ducks flocked and floated gently. Cattails grew near the surface of the water, and Ryuko made a small comment about how she couldn't stand cattails, leading Nonon to get up, pluck one, and playfully tickle Ryuko with it until Ryuko got a hold of it and tossed it away. The pair spent awhile birdwatching and reminiscing over various memories until they got tired and spent a while with one another's arms around each other.

"Nonon Jakuzure," Ryuko began as she gave a light smile, "I think I'm…"

"In desperate need of some fine perfume?" Nonon sarcastically added.

"Am I that bad?" Ryuko inquired as she grabbed the collar of her shirt and gave it a whiff or two.

"I'm kidding, calm down." Nonon said as she tore Ryuko's collar away from her nose.

"Well it's good to know that I'm not _entirely _unbearable." Ryuko playfully replied.

"Nah, just near it." Nonon equally as playfully retorted.

After the two giggled for awhile, the two calmed down and locked eyes again. There was a brief silence between the two before Ryuko began, "Nonon Jakuzure?"

"Yes?" Nonon replied, prepared for what was about to come.

"I think I'm," Ryuko continued, her blush practically setting her face ablaze, "in…"

"In?" Nonon inquired as she cupped her hand over her ear.

"In…" Ryuko trailed off, "lo-"

No one, save for Uzu and Hōka could've been prepared for what happened next. Ryuko's sentence was stopped by the sound of steps on the concrete trail. But not just any steps. Dark, foreboding, and commanding footsteps. Each one sharper than the last. The footsteps stopped right behind the couple, and they slowly creaked their heads around to see the figure behind them.

There stood a tall, commanding woman, her dark blue high heels only adding to her air of uppityness. She wore tight, tattered blue jeans that accentuated her every curve, and a classy white dress shirt that looked as thought it was ready to pop at the bosoms due to it's tightness. She held a cane out in front of her, one with an ornate golden top, and a jet black body, and her left hand was underneath her right. The frown on her face seemed full of malice towards one specific person at the moment, and Nonon couldn't help but feel she knew who that was. Her cerulean blue eyes could shake the determination of any man, and it was all topped off by her waist length, abysmally black hair that waved in the spring breeze, whose presence seemed almost ominous at the moment.

Although Ryuko didn't recognize her, Nonon's face was drained of all color at Satsuki's presence.

Uzu on the other hand, mused to himself silently as he said, "Right on time…"

Satsuki picked up her right foot and slammed her heel agains the concrete, nearly shattering it out of pure fury, as she exclaimed, "_**NONON KAMILLA JAKUZURE!**_" she lowered her tone as she began to walk towards her and muttered, "You have no idea of the hell you have wrought upon yourself…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: Boy, when shit hits the fan, it splatters everywhere, eh?_

_So what will become of Ryuko and Nonon? What will Satsuki do? And what else does Uzu have planned, if anything?!_

_Thanks to all of you who have stuck around, and I hope you will continue to do so, as the next chapter is sure to be a doozy…_

_If you really want to keep up, and show your support, why not write a review/follow this story/favorite it? Any of these would make me love you even more than I already do! _

_I thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great day/week/month/year of your life!_

_Until the next chapter,_

_See ya!_


	9. Let the Games Begin

_A/N: If you hate me, I understand._

_If you're disappointed in my abilities as a writer, I understand._

_If, based on the events of the prior few days, you want to quit reading this fiction, I understand; you have the full freedom to walk away and never give this fiction another glance. _

_But if you're willing to give a scumbag like me one last chance to redeem himself, then by all means, continue reading this chapter, in which I attempt to win you guys back._

_Thanks to user FoxOnPie for helping to give me the clarity I needed to write this in his review._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon felt a twinge of fear at Satsuki's violent shriek, and rose to the occasion. She trembled as she uttered the words, "S-S-Satsuki! H-How are-"

Nonon was cut off by Satsuki raising her left hand off of the cane in a 'stop' motion, and proceeding to walk towards Nonon, her heels seeming to clack even on fresh grass. "**NONON!**" Satsuki boomed over the chirping birds and sounds of nature that filled the park.

"Y-Yes, Satsuki?" Nonon shakily replied as she toyed with some free strands of her hair. At this point, Ryuko rose up out of her seat on the park bench and crossed her arms at Satsuki, donning a frown at the whole ordeal here.

Satsuki took notice of this, and said, "Miss Matoi, give us a minute and we shall then get to your part."

Ryuko raised an eyebrow at that comment and inquired, "How do you know my name?"

Satsuki ignored Ryuko's inquiry and instead turned to Nonon as she said as she drove her cane into a secure position in the ground, "Now then, Nonon, are you aware of what you have done?"

Nonon was beyond the point of sweating bullets, and had begun to sweat pure lead instead. "Potentially…" Nonon meekly trailed off.

"Well then," Satsuki replied as she allowed a smug grin to cross her face (one that would've made even Uzu proud), "by all means, speak up!"

Nonon mumbled something inaudible, causing Ryuko and Satsuki both to lean in close to see if they could hear better.

"Come now, speak up!" Satsuki demanded in a playful tone.

"Nonon, baby, c'mon," Ryuko cooed as she rubbed Nonon's back, "it's alright. I mean, I have no idea what the hell is going on here but speak up nonetheless."

Nonon took a deep breath and then spoke up and replied, "I…went against orders…"

Ryuko cocked her head to the side out of confusion and Satsuki nodded gently as she replied, "Indeed you did…" she plucked her cane out of the ground and popped it up in her right hand as she continued, "You came to such a place of leisure and frivolity when I explicitly told you that we had practice today!"

It was Nonon's time to be confused as she raised her head up and realized that Satsuki must be lying to not only cover Nonon but to cover herself.

_'Classic Satsuki…' _Nonon thought to herself as she grinned slightly.

"Wait a minute," Ryuko said as she looked to Satsuki, "Nonon told me that she didn't have practice until tomorrow."

"Then you were obviously deceived," Satsuki replied as she first turned to Ryuko and then to Nonon as she continued, "am I not correct, Nonon?"

Nonon sighed, somewhat relieved but with worry still creeping in the back of her mind, and turned to Ryuko as she said, "It's true, Ryuko; I lied so that I could come here with you." Nonon relished in that lovely feeling of Satsuki cringing ever so lightly at Nonon's unexpectedly romantic play.

Ryuko broadly smiled as she embraced Nonon and cooed some inaudible nonsense into her ear before rising up and inquiring, "So, Satsuki was it?"

"That's correct," Satsuki replied as she bowed slightly and continued, "Satsuki Kiryuin; Cheerleading Club captain."

Ryuko wasn't one to get worried too often, so it was a surprise to Satsuki when she saw Ryuko cowering ever so slightly as she inquired, "Um, I'm not in too much trouble, am I?"

Satsuki felt that bizarre feeling from the hug before engulf her as she couldn't help but wistfully sight inaudibly and reply, "Oh not at all, since you were but an accomplice in this whole ordeal." she then turned to Nonon as she said, "No, the real blame here is all on Nonon." she then donned a menacing grin as she said, "Therefore, she will have to run laps around the track field until she drops or until I'm satisfied; whichever comes first."

Nonon gulped at the colossal punishment she had just been dealt, and was about to whine when a bizarre thing happen.

From the distance, a man began to run up to the group. He had dark green hair that Nonon found annoyingly familiar, and was wearing a dark red track outfit. The lower half of his face was covered by the turtleneck of his jacket, but that didn't affect his audibleness as he called out, "WAAAAAIT A MINUTE!" before coming to stop at the group of three, jogging in place as he panted ever so slightly.

"What is it there, Usain Bolt?" Nonon sassily inquired.

"Oh nothing much," the man kindly replied in a tone that seemed almost forced, "I just saw you three girls having a bit of a spat over here and thought I'd see if there was anything that I could do about it."

"That's very kind…" Satsuki said as she scoped out the still unidentified jogger.

"Oh, show some heart, guys!" Ryuko beamed as she walked over and threw her arm over the man, "I'm happy there are still some nice people left!"

"I'm happy that you think that lady," the jogger said, his kind tone faltering as he left hand slowly reached up behind him, "but I'm gonna have to ask you let go of me…" he said in a voice that was all too painfully familiar. Ryuko turned in shock as the man used his right hand to unzip his turtleneck's zipper to reveal the grinning face of Uzu beneath, and in her final moments before she slipped out of consciousness, she watched as Uzu shoved her off of him and walked over to Satsuki and Nonon.

As Ryuko fell to the ground, Nonon panicked and rushed over to her, tapping her face a little bit in a feeble attempt to wake her up. She shot a look at Uzu and exclaimed, "What did you do to her?!"

"Calm down," Uzu said as he raised his arms in a 'calm down' motion, "it's a basic nerve pinch Hōka taught me, she'll wake up tomorrow morning with a headache, but that's all. Hōka used on her friend before, if you'll recall." Nonon scowled at the cocky fencer, causing Uzu to shrug and say, "If you don't believe me," he then gestured to the bushes and continued, "then perhaps you'll believe it straight from the source."

On those words, Hōka rose up out of the bushes, his rarely seen t-shirt and gym shorts exposed (thought they didn't see nearly as much use as they should), and dusted off the burs and leaves as he said, "You suck at doing intros…"

Uzu chuckled at that accusation and retorted, "But I take off on a friendly jogger pretty good, eh?"

Hōka rolled his eyes at the retort and replied, "Just give me my outfit back, perv."

Uzu offered a giggle in response and unzipped his jacket and pants to reveal his usual pristine white get-up underneath as he handed the articles of clothing over to Hōka.

"Doggie?" a surprised Nonon inquired as she gazed at the now properly clothed visage of Hōka.

"Believe you me, I'm just as surprised as you are…" Hōka muttered in response as he reassumed his regular demeanor.

"I thought Ira was supposed to be with you." Satsuki stated as she gazed at Hōka and Uzu.

"Oh, well he is," Uzu replied in his normal aloof tone, "just not _with us_ if you catch my drift."

"I hardly think you'd stoop to murder," Satsuki replied, unamused, "so I fail to see any other drifts to catch here, Sanageyama."

"Allow me to explicate." Hōka said as he stepped forward slightly, Uzu's hand pushing on his back to go further the whole time, "We had to have some sort of guinea pig to teach Hōka the nerve pinch on, which I regret doing now more than ever," Hōka said as he shuddered at the evil he had just wrought upon the world, "and, since I wasn't about to sacrifice my own consciousness, we figured we might as well use the next best thing."

"So, Froggie is…" Nonon said as she left Ryuko's side and crossed her arms.

"Taking a nice little dirt nap." Uzu finished. "Actually, given his size, I probably shouldn't have said _'little'_…"

Hōka permitted himself a light chuckle at that and returned back to Uzu's side as Satsuki droned, "Your humor is ill-appreciated here, though I guess it must be tolerated, given the way you've handled things so far…"

Nonon looked around at the whole crew in disbelief and turned to Uzu as she exclaimed, "Alright Monkey, get with the explaining! What's going on here?!"

Uzu motioned for her to calm down and replied, "Easy does it girl, easy does it." he then looked to Satsuki as he said, "Satsuki, would you mine handling the explaining?"

"If I must…" Satsuki droned as she leaned up against the park bench, setting her cane aside, "You see, my dear Nonon," she began as she gazed at Nonon, "you may have thought yourself intelligent and sneaky, but you must realize that I'll always catch up to things."

"I'm not sure I understand…" Nonon replied as she leaned up next to Satsuki.

"Although I found out through…" she looked to Uzu and Hōka, "_less than conventional means_…I found out you had been making moves on Miss Matoi here…" she allowed her eyes to drift down to Nonon's chest, "rather provocative moves, if I'm not mistaken…"

Nonon blushed at the saucy time her and Ryuko had shared in the locker room, and instantly averted her gaze from Satsuki to the hilly lakeside. "I-I'm not sure I-"

"There's no use denying it, Jakuzure." Satsuki deadpanned, obtaining Nonon's attention yet again. "The bobby pin Hōka gave you was bugged."

Nonon instantly grabbed at the bobby pin and threw it at Hōka and Uzu in disbelief. However, Uzu and Hōka's lightning reflexes initiated and they simultaneously caught the pin; Uzu's right hand and Hōka's left intertwined. Uzu noticed this and turned to Hōka with a sly grin, only to elicit a cold frown and muffled, "Die." from Hōka.

"You're surprisingly easy to bug, Nonon." Hōka replied as he twiddled the pin in his left hand.

Nonon grimaced as she retorted, "I shouldn't let Doggies lick me anymore, they might be diseased…"

"What about Monkeys?" Uzu coyly inquired as he put his hands in his coat pockets.

Nonon shot an evil look to Uzu and replied, "Monkeys will be taken by their tail an spun around above my head like a fucking pinwheel…"

Uzu leaned back and responded, "Saucy as ever, aren't we?"

Nonon ignored that and turned to Satsuki who took that as her cue to continue the story. "Earlier today, Uzu and Hōka brought me the recordings they had obtained from the bug, and that's when Uzu suggested this plan."

"Well pardon me," Nonon said, inserting as little sass as she could towards Satsuki before turning to Uzu and Hōka and saying, snide flooding her tone, "I fail to see the end results of this 'plan' of Monkey's!"

"Oh, so short sighted, aren't you?" Uzu lulled as he crossed his arms across that cadet blue vest of his, "I haven't even gotten to the good part of this plan."

"Eh?" Nonon inquired, deeply confused.

"Nonon." Satsuki firmly began as she locked eyes with the pinkette, "I have decided that I will fight you for Matoi's affections."

Time froze for a minute at that declaration, and as a strong spring breeze gusted through the park, Nonon shrieked, "**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!**"

"Oh, sorry, was I not clear?" Satsuki genuinely inquired. "I'm going to compete with you for the affections of-"

"No, I get that!" Nonon interrupted as she buried her face in her hands, but unveiled it as she looked at Uzu menacingly and inquired, "But just how in the hell are we going to 'compete' as you so effeminately put it?!"

Uzu tensed up at that and turned to Nonon as he reprimanded, "I'm _not _effeminate…I'm _annoying_…" in an ominous tone.

Nonon rolled her eyes as she replied, "Whatever, just tell me how this'll work."

"Simple." Uzu replied, back to his normal self, "Ira's gonna handle distracting Matoi's friend, Coconut Head,"

"I believe her name was Mako Mankanshoku, actually." Hōka corrected as he raised his hand.

"Whatever," Uzu replied, not batting an eye in Hōka's direction, "we told him about this before we conked him out. He got all weird and bothered, but that was when I pinched him properly and he was down for the count." as he rubbed his chin ever so slyly he returned to the topic at hand and continued, "Now, since Spring Break is next week, you'll not only have this Thursday and Friday, but the rest of this weekend and up until the end of Spring Break to capture the amorous feelings of a one certain raven haired ladykiller." Uzu looked down at the body of Ryuko once before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter.

"What's that for?" Nonon suspiciously inquired as she narrowed her eyes.

"To give us each a fair chance…" Satsuki trailed off as she gazed at the coin.

"Eh?" Nonon responded as she returned her gaze to Uzu.

"You see, I want to give you each a fair chance to make a pre-Spring Break impression on Matoi." Uzu said as he twiddled the coin in his right fingers, "So, as acting moderator of this competition, I've decided that, based on a coin flip, you'll each get one day of your choice all to your own without interference from the other."

Nonon was suspicious, but shook her head and said, "I call heads."

Uzu nodded and flipped the coin. As the metallic ding echoed across the park, it just as instantly landed back in Uzu's right hand. Uzu opened his hand to reveal that the coin had landed on tails, and Nonon's heart sank slightly. She looked at the victorious woman next to her who twirled her cane by the glistening, ornate golden top in her right hand.

"I'll take Friday." Satsuki said as she looked up to Uzu, who nodded and declared,

"Alright then, with Friday claimed, that means Nonon has Ryuko all to herself tomorrow!"

"Satsuki…" Nonon trailed off as she looked at Satsuki with a smile.

Satsuki returned the smile and said, "Miss Jakuzure, would you mind taking Miss Matoi back to her place at the school?"

Nonon nodded as she walked over to the body of her lover and threw Ryuko's arm over her shoulder as she began to drag her back to the school.

_'I've given you a second chance Nonon,' _Satsuki thought to herself as she watched Nonon wander off into the distance, _'don't squander it...'_

As Uzu and Hōka were about to join her in the triumphant walk away, Satsuki outstretched her can in front of them, blocking their path.

Uzu and Hōka looked at one another and whispered, "Déjà vu…" to each other before looking over to the smiling Satsuki.

"Boys…" she began as she lowered the cane and popped it up in her right hand until she was holding it by the tip, "although I am grateful that your actions led to the uncovering of Nonon's scandalous acts…" she gave Uzu a firm whack in the stomach with her cane, bringing him to his knees, "there are consequences."

Uzu hacked out of breathlessness for a few minutes before rising up off his knees and saying through coughs, "Hey, why didn't Hōka get hit?"

"Because I'm fine with him," Satsuki flatly replied, "you I merely tolerate on certain occasions."

"What about other occasions?" Uzu excitedly inquired.

Satsuki sighed at Uzu's antics and Hōka looked over at him and said, "Hey, next time, let me do it."

Uzu paid no mind to Hōka's remark and said, "I'm afraid to ask, but what consequences are to ensue our own underhanded actions?"

Satsuki's grin broadened and Uzu felt that sinking feeling from before as Satsuki strutted behind the two boys, threw her ams around them and got in between them as she said, "Boys…did you know that I have a little sister?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: __**I AM BACK, BABY!**_

_I suddenly feel refreshed, renewed, and restored! Totally different from how I felt when I wrote the previous version of this chapter (of which we shall not speak) and I hope you guys are as satisfied with the revisions as I am. I think I finally found something that is the perfect balance between what you guys and what I want, and it was there all along!_

_Thanks for sticking with me, and I'm sorry, deeply sorry, about all the events of the past few days. Let me assure you that the following chapters will be nothing short of my best! I promise you that!_

_Thanks for your support and, if you're willing, write up a review/follow this story/favorite it/all of the above! Thank you for staying around again for as long as you have and I hope that I'll never sink as low as I did previously. _

_Until next time, this is the Author, signing off!_


	10. Babysitting and Detention

_A/N: I want to address 2 things here, and then we'll be off._

_1st, I'm sorry that it's been a few days, I've been busy in school recently, and that's been a severe distraction. For that, I sincerely apologize._

_2nd, the Hōka x Nonon shippers that occasionally berate me for the current path of the story. I want to say one thing to you:_

_Have you ever heard the phrase: "All in due time"?_

_It's a phrase I've always loved and it's even the title of the first chapter of this story._

_Dwell on that one for a little while._

_That is all._

_So, without further ado, let's get back to it, eh?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Back here again, eh?" Uzu said in a more disappointed tone than usual as he once again mired at the expanse of the Kiryuin estate while he walked along the hallway with Hōka.

"Déjá vu…" Hōka trailed off as he examined the paintings on the wall. Some of historical dignitaries, some of people whom Hōka inferred to be relatives of the Kiryuin family, and some of Satsuki even. Most of them portrayed her in majestic poses, one even had her next to a tiger, with the tiger displaying subtle signs of fear.

"If you would please, this way sirs." Soroi, the withered old butler, said as he beckoned the men towards the living room.

"Yeah, yeah," Uzu replied as he gazed at a rather dashing portrait of John F. Kennedy, "go on ahead Iori, we'll be there soon enough."

"Very well, Mr. Sanageyama." Soroi replied as he took an official bow and proceeded towards the living room. Well, one of many living rooms.

As is already known, the Kiryuin estate hosts a plethora of rooms of every different sort, and living rooms are one of its specialties. There really was no one designated one, they just all were referred to as 'the living room' for all intensive purposes. This particular one they were heading to happened to be on the ground floor, and was actually quite average in design, hosting only a few leather couches, a large diamond encrusted chandelier, bookshelves adorning each wall, and solid mahogany wood floors with a few polished oak tables in the middle. By Kiryuin standards, nothing huge. By any other standard, extravagant.

But, the main focus here is the long trod Hōka and Uzu had down the hallway to get to the living room.

"You know, you seem a little down." Hōka said as the two trotted along.

"Well, aren't you?" Uzu retorted as he looked back at Hōka.

Hōka mired at his and Uzu's normal attire as stated, "Not really, considering the fact that we can wear our normal clothes this time."

"That's the only redeeming quality here!" Uzu snapped back as he leaned up against a nearby wall and bruited.

"I'm not all that furious purely because I don't think it's permissible." Hōka stated as he leaned up next to Uzu.

"Yeah, you make a point." Uzu replied as he began to chuckle slightly and said, "Funny to think how, for once, I wasn't the instigator in one of our little escapades."

"Please don't remind me," Hōka responded as he coughed, "the pure thought makes me sick."

"I'd hardly call the thought 'pure', Hōka." Uzu replied as he looked up at the ornately decorated ceiling.

"You're right, pardon my improper adjective utilization." Hōka corrected as he looked over to Uzu.

"But really, why did we get thrown under the bus in the first place, eh?" Uzu moaned as he hung his head low.

"Because apparently bugging one of your own is considered an act of treason…" Hōka droned at the thought.

"Yeah, but she could've at least just offed us then and there," Uzu continued to moan as he softly shifted his feet about, "she had a murder weapon, and I'm pretty sure she could've hired someone to take the fall for her!"

"I'm pretty sure all the money in the world will do you no good if you're incarcerated." Hōka responded flatly.

"But _nooooo_," Uzu continued, completely disregarding Hōka's diatribe, "instead she's making us babysit Lucifer's incarnate!"

"You're not even listening are you?" Hōka stated as he facepalmed.

"I thought torture was illegal…" Uzu muttered to himself as he faced on down the hallway.

"I hardly classify this as-" Hōka began before considering who their opponent was, "never mind, I retract any offensive thing I've said concerning the matter."

"Jeez, how did Nui even come about?" Uzu groaned as the two began to walk again, Uzu's coat trailing slightly as he sauntered along.

"I hear she was an inherited child." Hōka began as he admired the gold-trimmed light fixtures, "When Ragyo married Satsuki's late father, he already had a child from a previous marriage. That child was Nui Harime. Out of the goodness of her heart, Ragyo accepted Nui into the family, and looked after her as one of her own. That's when she added the suffix 'Kiryuin' to her last name. However, Satsuki wasn't so accepting of her, and the two have never seen eye to eye ever since."

Indeed, Nui Harime-Kiryuin was an interesting case. Though she can appear as innocent as an orphan, she's really rather devious. Ever since she first met Satsuki, she's been pulling prank after prank on her; from wrecking her homework and breaking her toys when they were little to tripping her down stairs and inflicting other wounds on her, you name it, she's done it. Satsuki normally writes it off, but sometimes it results in a small conflict between the two. And by 'small conflict', I mean full blown war in the household. There were actually certain rooms built that are designed to be resistant to all sorts of impacts specifically for said aforementioned conflicts.

"Makes sense." Uzu replied as he looked side to side, "Speaking of Miss White and Eyebrows, where are they today?"

"Well since Satsuki can't pursue Matoi toady," Hōka explained, "she decided to spend another day with her mother before Ragyo has to leave for Milan in a few days."

"Of fucking course…" Uzu droned as he slammed his fist into the wall, nearly denting it.

"Oi, watch it," Hōka warned at the gesture, "that wall costs more than that entire outfit of yours, times 10."

"Um, I'm sorry, do you _know _what brands these clothes are?" Uzu inquired in an offended tone. He gestured to his coat and said, "Galini brand coat, made specifically for me, crafted from only the finest imported fabrics. The collar is comprised entirely of double treated imported cotton." he then gestured to his cadet blue vest and said, "Buscemi brand vest, made of the same nylon that was used to make vests for 5 past presidents and the head of the Lamborghini family." he then finally gestured to his pristine white pants and said, "Roth's designer line skinny jeans, made for only a limited time during the first and second week of last December!" after that, he did an eloquent 360 spin on his tiptoes and stated, "Now, what was this about it costing more than my entire outfit."

Hōka had a deadpan expression on his entire face that whole sanctimonious spiel, and wasn't about to change that as he replied, "Fine, I was wrong, can we just get this over with?"

"Oh, what's this my dear Inumuta?" Uzu coyly inquired as he buzzed about Hōka like a mosquito, "Are you anxious to see a one miss Harime?"

"Not at all." Hōka immediately responded, "However, it's my own personal Hell that I've wrought upon myself, so I suppose it's only fitting that I get it over with as possible."

"That sounds like the Hōka Inumuta I know!" Uzu said as he patted Hōka firmly on the back which Hōka couldn't help but grin slightly at.

As the two reached the door to the living room, they both took a deep breath before entering. Upon entering, they were greeted by the sight of the 13-year-old herself in a frilly pink dress, laying on the couch, chewing gum obnoxiously loud while she twiddled one of her golden pigtails.

"Kept me waiting long enough!" Nui snapped as she shot up from her position at the sight of the two boys.

"You waited for us? How thoughtful…" Uzu snidely retorted with that trademark smirk of his painted all over his face.

"Don't mention it; seriously." Nui replied as she rolled her eyes at the sight of Uzu's smugness. "Alright Icicle and Monkey," Nui began as she crossed her arms and donned her own devilish grin.

"Icicle?" Hōka muttered through his turtleneck.

"Ooh, Monkey, _real original there_." Uzu sarcastically replied as he rolled his shoulders in an unamused fashion.

"let's have…" Nui began as she ran over to the two and grabbed Hōka by his sweatshirt and Uzu by his coat, "_a little fun…_"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Agh, jeez does my head hurt!" Ryuko moaned as she walked through the halls of Stonewall, Aikuro Mikisugi by her side. Ryuko rubbed her forehead and temples with her hands as Aikuro looked down at her and chuckled.

"What happened?" Aikuro inquired as he adjusted his aviators, "Did you sleep on a bed of 2 by 4s again?"

"No!" Ryuko snapped in reply, "I wouldn't make the same mistake three times!"

"Three?" Aikuro inquired as he leaned in towards Ryuko with his hand cupped over his ear, eliciting a blush and a nervous chuckle from Ryuko.

Normally Stonewall would be the academic equivalent of the rejected child of Time Square and an Indian bazaar, but today was different. The class was taking their annual before-Spring-Break field trip from Stonewall to Chicago, leaving the school a proverbial ghost town. They departed early that morning at 6 and were due back at midnight. Well, _almost _everyone departed; Ryuko was actually the only one who was forced to stay back to due to (_*ahem*_) _circumstances_.

"Why did you have to beat up those Newspaper Club boys anyways?" Aikuro said as they rounded the corner and neared his classroom.

"I thought I told you," Ryuko replied, not rubbing her head anymore and instead allowing her arms to hang by her sides, "they were sneaking around the Girl's Locker Room, someone had to."

"Yeah, but was it _really_ necessary to break Johnson's femur?" Aikuro replied as he adjusted the buttoning on his white shirt.

"Why d'you even bother straightening up?" Ryuko said, changing the subject as she looked at Aikuro's normal, raggedy outfit of a dingy white button-up, and tattered, faded blue jeans. She also noted how, despite being his age, he had the figure and build of a 20 or 30 something year-old. "You know there's no one else to monitor but me."

"I could inquire a similar thing about your attire, Miss Matoi," Aikuro retorted as mired at Ryuko's casual outfit, "it's not often I see you in a hoodie and jeans. More often than not you wear that sailor uniform, no?"

"_Senketsu_." Ryuko sharply replied as she glared at Aikuro, stopping both of them in their tracks, "Knowing the circumstances behind that thing, just bear with me and call it Senketsu."

Aikuro mired at that fire in Ryuko's eyes that he had ignited and replied, "What were those circumstances again?" with a smug grin, "My memory escapes me…"

Ryuko growled at Aikuro, but sighed and replied, "My dad was heavily into clothing and science." as she leaned up against a locker on the wall, "Yeah, I know, weird obsessions, but whatever. In his life, he often wondered what would happen if he developed a special cloth."

"Special cloth?" Aikuro inquired as leaned up next to Ryuko and looked down at her, his shaggy blue locks dusting his eyes.

"Yeah," Ryuko replied, her gaze still fixated forward, "you know how people outgrow their clothes n' stuff?"

"Well yeah, that's natural." Aikuro replied as he looked down at his outfit, thinking how he had always kept it constant, just buying larger sizes of various things for whenever he grew.

"Yeah well, not according to my dad." Ryuko replied, recapturing Aikuro's attention, "He thought that constantly buying and re-buying outfits was a huge wast of money. So he wanted to develop a special cloth that would adjust to a human's measurements by naturally scanning various elements of your being."

"Elements?" Aikuro curiously replied as he narrowed his eyes behind his tan aviators.

"You know, like, blood, hairs, dead skin cells, shit like that." Ryuko responded. "The cloth would analyze these as they came and adjust itself within a few hours or days and maintain its perfect fit for all of its existence."

"And Senketsu is…" Aikuro began, finally remembering it all.

"Completely made of this special cloth." Ryuko finished, finally casting a glance his way. "And the only successful version my dad ever made before he died in that fire that destroyed our house."

As Ryuko sighed, Aikuro patted her on the shoulder and gave her a smile. "So what about you? You couldn't finish his research for him?"

"Nah," Ryuko replied with a small chuckle, "all of his notebooks, research, family photos, prototypes, _all of it_ burned in that fire. And even if I had it, you should know better than anyone that I'm no good at that science stuff."

"You can say that again…" Aikuro coyly droned, only to be responded to by a swift elbow in the side from Ryuko.

After Aikuro finished bruising over his minor injury, he replied, "That still doesn't explain why you're not wearing it right now."

Ryuko shrugged and said, "I tore a hole in the skirt, and I haven't had time to sew it up yet."

"But can't that special cloth repair itself?" Aikuro inquired as the two began to walk towards Aikuro's classroom.

"Unfortunately, no." Ryuko replied, "It can only adjust in size, any repairs have to be made on yer own."

"Science, eh?" Aikuro droned as they reached his classroom and began to fiddle around in his pockets for his keys.

"Yeah, I guess." Ryuko shrugged. She then began to caress her head again and moaned, "It hurts! It freakin' hurts! And I always have these weird visions, too!"

"Visions?" Aikuro inquired as he opened up his classroom, the familiar scent of Sandalwood instantly hitting the two. "What, like a day-time dream or something?"

"I'm not sure." Ryuko said as she leaned up against Aikuro's desk, "All I know is that in this dream I'm somewhere with…someone." Ryuko's caress on her head momentarily intensified, but she eventually relaxed slightly, and she continued, "I don't quite know who, but then all of a sudden there's this weird jogger dude that kinda reminded me of that Sanageyama dude."

"Uzu." Aikuro stated as he refreshed the incense in his burner and haphazardly 'sorted' papers on his desk.

Ryuko snapped her fingers in Aikuro's direction, "Yeah, that's the guy!" Ryuko replied. "The next thing I know, this jogger dude is the last thing I see before I pass out or something. And from there, it's blackness until I wake up; crazy, eh?"

"That sounds a little too detailed to be a dream, no?" Aikuro responded as he kicked back in his chair and put his feet up, prompting Ryuko to remove herself from the desk and instead choose the one that was directly across from Aikuro's.

"C'mon Aikuro," Ryuko drolly replied, "you're tellin' me that all this _actually happened_?"

Aikuro gave Ryuko a once over as he said, "My degree's in teaching Ryuko, not psychology." Once he was done, he gazed off to the side and continued, "However, knowing you, nothing would surprise me."

"Tch!" Ryuko playfully replied as she kicked her feet up on the desk next to Aikuro's and said, "I never did pay you back for the tip off, did I?"

Aikuro allowed himself to chuckle as he began to fake like he was examining the mess of papers on his desk, and replied, "No, I don't recall as though you did…" he then proceeded to lay back in his chair and continue, "Ah, whatever. You were in as much danger as I was; I was just being civil."

"Yeah, as civil as a nudist hobo can be." Ryuko retorted, a clever grin dancing on that delicate face of hers.

Aikuro noticed her grin, but decided to ignore it conversation-wise and instead inquired, "Where's that little friend of yours? Mako?"

"On that damn trip." Ryuko replied, "And just my luck, she didn't get to talk to me because she was caught up with some guy that she met; Ira Gama-something-or-other, I don't know…"

"Sounds interesting." Aikuro droned as he twiddled an incense stick in his right hand, "Do you think she likes this guy?"

"Probably, that would just be like Mako…" Ryuko replied in an unamused tone, "Jeez, this is why I stick with girls!"

"Eh? What do you mean?" Aikuro inquired as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Well, with guys, it's all about themselves, you know?" Ryuko began as she leaned back and looked out the window at the beautiful spring scene outside. Birds sang their songs of joy as the gentle breeze blew through all the petals, leaves, and blades of grass of creation. A gentle waft of fresh grass mixed with lavender from just outside came wafting in, mixing perfectly with the already lovely Sandalwood that filled the room. After taking a second to inhale the essence, Ryuko continued, "They're never putting the girl first, and they're always pulling reckless shit that gets the girl more n' more wrapped up with him. Conniving little…" Ryuko pounded the table lightly but calmed down eventually and went on to say, "But with girls, they have each other first, and themselves second. They know how to prioritize one another's needs, desires, and most importantly, they understand one another way better than anyone else could ever…It's beautiful…" she looked over to get a take from Aikuro only to realize that he had his earbuds in this entire time, and was blasting "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers just loud enough for Ryuko to hear. She only recognized the song because it was one of the songs Aikuro more frequently played.

Ryuko heaved a heavy sigh and mixed in the word 'hopeless' in there loud enough for Aikuro to pause his phone, take out an earbud, and say, "Hm? Did you say something?"

Ryuko muttered some profanities and then turned back out the window and replied, "Oh, nothing really…"

"Oh, ok good." Aikuro said as he began to put his earbud back in, but halted when Ryuko said,

"I said it before but I'll say it again, I don't see why you're here."

"Well," Aikuro began as he took out both earbuds and threw his phone carelessly on his desk, "the school guidebook says that in the instance of two or more students in a detention/suspension session there must be at least one adult present."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ryuko said as she waved her hand, "_two students?_"

"Yes." Aikuro said as he lifted up the lone clipboard on his desk, "I have the names right here. For detention today I have Ryuko Matoi and-"

"Nonon Jakuzure." Nonon finished from the doorway where she stood. Ryuko and Aikuro snapped their heads to the sight before them, a petite pinkette who wore a short sleeved white undershirt underneath her solid pink button-up overshirt, a pair of tattered and torn blue jeans, and abysmally black Converses. She had her arms crossed, but that assertive pose seemed to be more of a farce than anything. Ryuko didn't know why, but she felt like she had seen this girl somewhere before…

"I assume that's you?" Aikuro stated as he threw his clipboard aside and leaned back in his chair again.

"Yes, that's me." Nonon said as she placed a hand on her chest just above her left breast.

"Well, take a seat and make nice with Ryuko here," Aikuro said as he gestured to Ryuko and then got up out of his seat, "I'm gonna go get some coffee…"

"I thought you said there had to be an adult present!" Ryuko called after him playfully.

"No, the school guidebook says that," Aikuro corrected on his way out, "I'm not the guidebook!" and then winked as he left, eliciting a sigh from Ryuko.

"Jeez, what's that guy's deal?" Nonon said as she went and leaned up against the table Ryuko was currently on, stretching her legs to set her feet on Aikuro's desk.

"He's a flower child," Ryuko replied as she looked to Nonon with a smile that made her heart flutter all over again, "so he pretty much goes by that one thing, um, laiss-somethin' or other."

"_Laissez-faire?_" Nonon inquired as she snapped her fingers at the thought.

"That's it!" Ryuko exclaimed as she hit her right fist agains the open palm of her left hand, then reached out her right arm and patted Nonon on the head as she said, "Thanks for that, missy!"

"N-No problem…" Nonon replied, turning her face away in a futile attempt to hide her blush. "B-But, can I ask a question?"

"Yeah, sure." Ryuko responded as she swung herself around and sat criss-cross facing Nonon.

"Do you recognize me?" Nonon said as she gestured to her face.

Ryuko took a good hard look at Nonon, finely examining every feature of her. Her hair, her perky cheekbones, her cute button nose, and the unique way her bangs hung. At last, she snapped her fingers and her face lit up, as well as Nonon's.

Ryuko opened her mouth to speak and replied, "Oh yeah!"

"You do know me?!" Nonon excitedly inquired as she grabbed Ryuko's hands.

Ryuko blushed at the gesture and replied, "Actually…I got nothin'…"

Nonon's heart sank deeper and deeper as Ryuko went on to say,

"Sorry Miss Nonon, I've never seen ya before in my life."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: SHE CAN'T REMEMBER?! It looks like Ryuko's convinced herself it was all a dream or something like that! What does this spell for Nonon and her ambitions? And what about Satsuki? Most importantly, what will become of Uzu and Hōka as they enter the Devil's Den?_

_These answers and more in the next chapter of, __**"Lost, but Found"**__!_

_If you haven't already, please accept my thanks for reading this story, and I hope you will continue to read it!_

_If your really like this story, then please do leave a follow/review/favorite/all of the above because seeing those always makes my day! And even if you don't, then don't' worry; I still love you regardless!_

_I hope you have an excellent day/week/month/year of your life and I'll see you all soon!_


	11. Nonon's Recovery (INTERLUDE)

_A/N: With Ryuko's conviction that everything that she saw was a dream now a critical piece of the competition for her love, Nonon is faced with a difficult situation! How will she work her way out of this one?_

_Oh, and I have to cut this one a little (lot) short due to the fact that I have projects I have to work on that I've been procrastinating on…sorry. Won't happen next week, promise. _

_Anyways, let's just get this little interlude over with, eh?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon sat outside of the classroom, having excused herself from Ryuko's presence to do a weird mixture of grieving and formulating. She remembered how she had politely asked of Ryuko to be excused who had simply snickered and replied,

"Ain't up to me, do whatever ya want."

In that lusciously seductive drawl of hers. Nonon remembered that chill she had gotten from that drawl, and all the reasons why she fell in love with Ryuko began to flood back into her. However, it was at that moment that she began to inquire of herself what she really thought love was.

Nonon twirled her cotton candy pink bangs and began to remember the passionate time she had in the locker room with Ryuko, but her stomach churned as she realized that was really the only experience she had had with Ryuko (not to mention _that_ sort of matter), sands their pitiful excuse of a date that had resulted in this cacophony of romantics.

"Jeez…" she sighed to herself as she leaned back up against some nearby lockers, gently tapping her fingers against them as she thought about those times. Nonon felt a small tear begin to well up in her eye as she thought out loud, "They're memories nonetheless…so why am I cheated out of them?!" she instantly covered her mouth with her hands and peered around the corner into the classroom to see Ryuko sound asleep. She cocked her head to the side out of surprise at how quickly Ryuko had drifted off.

_'Is she always this bad?' _Nonon thought to herself as she placed her right index finger on her right cheek and pondered on Hōka's experience with Ryuko. She distinctly recalled him ranting and raving on and on about how horrible her academic records were when he was grooming through her personal records. _'Well, I guess that would explain that…' _she trailed off in her head as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a message notification from Hōka.

"That's right," Nonon said to herself as she slid the little banner across the screen with her right thumb, "him and Monkey _did _have to babysit Little Miss Satan today…" as the messaging app loaded and the text came up, the first thing that caught her eye was the picture attached. Before further inspecting it, she thought,

_'Great, what has the Dork Duo gotten themselves into now?' _then began to examine the photograph.

The photo was taken using the front facing camera, that much Nonon could tell from the faint outline of Hōka's glacial locks in the bottom of the frame, and appeared to be taken from some kind of cover as well; a couch or a chair perhaps. However, the real stars here were Uzu and Nui. Nonon cackled at the sight of a strung up Uzu, being dangled from the high clearance ceiling by his bounded up feet utilizing some sturdy sewing yarn that Nonon assumed Nui must've found in one of the drawers. Nonon could also tell Uzu had his hands tied up from his restricted shoulder posture. He had a blindfold over his eyes and multiple bruises adorned his face and forehead, all made evident by gravity dangling his voluminous locks down far enough that they just barely grazed the ground. Nui on the other hand was carefree and as devilishly exuberant as ever. She was posed in a batter's position and appeared to be mid swing with a rather ornate pink umbrella.

The text that accompanied the photo read:

**To succeed, sacrifices are necessary…**

Nonon chuckled mildly at Hōka's deadpan style of humor and rapidly typed in reply:

**Kids just love monkey piñatas, eh?**

While she continued to giggle at the image. After a few minutes, she began to think how stupid she was for beating herself up so much over this.

_'Maybe Satsuki does have the upper hand in this,' _Nonon thought as she bowed her head and thought about the jet-black haired mistress, _'but,' _she continued as she rose her head up and cracked a devilish grin as she finished, _'that doesn't mean I won't go down fighting!' _

Nonon spun around and swung open the door to the classroom, oblivious to the fact that she had another message from Hōka; one that depicted him getting chased by Nui, and him screaming for help in text form.

"Hey, where's Mr. SkyMoonRainbowWhatever?" Nonon snidely inquired as she plopped herself down on the sleeping Ryuko's desk.

Ryuko shook herself from her sleeping pose, took her feet off the table, then slurred to Nonon, "Missahwhanow?" her drawl more intense than it had ever been before. Combine that with the sleepiness that painted her voice, and you had the ultimate in sexiness, rising up like a bear fresh from hibernation.

Nonon shook herself of her blush quickly enough to face Ryuko without much difficulty and re-inquire, "Where'd the hippie run off to?"

"Oh, Aikuro!" Ryuko moaned as she stretched herself awake, puffing out her chest as she touched her hands together above her head, causing that blush that had only so recently dissipated to re-flush Nonon's face. Nonon turned away ever so slightly as Ryuko continued, "He hightailed it outta here."

Nonon froze in confusion as she leaned in close to Ryuko and inquired, "He can do that?"

Ryuko blushed at the duo's close proximity, but carried on, nonetheless, "Hey, when that coffee place down the road-"

"Checker Records?" Nonon inquired, quite familiar with the place, as it's where she often spent her free time.

"Yeah…that place," Ryuko replied, shaken at how Nonon had only increased their proximity. By now, Nonon was on all fours, and leaning down close to Ryuko, their noses mere inches apart, "when he sees they're havin' a sale on Sandalwood incense and baggy pants, ain't nobody stoppin' him."

Nonon now realized what this meant as she said, "So we're…" she looked around at the barren classroom, illuminated beautifully by the gorgeous spring sunlight that poured through the open windows and cascaded over Ryuko's feathery locks as she finished Nonon's sentence,

"Alone…"

Nonon realized that it was now or never, and the cogs in her head began rotating faster than ever, as she began to concoct her plan, all the while thinking to herself,

_'At long last, my chance has come!'_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: And with that, the story continues!_

_Again, sorry that this one is so pitifully short, but I had to choose between finishing projects for 3 core classes, or lengthening this. Now, as much as I love you guys, I gotta think of myself sometimes, don't I?_

_I promise, the chapter will be normal length next time._

_If you haven't followed/favorited/written a review, then I highly recommend it (*Shameless plug*)! And if you don't, it's fine; I still love you all! _

_Honestly, you guys are the greatest. You've given me a feeling of acceptance (as I've said before), and you've made me feel truly proud about something that I've done; no one's ever really done that before, so thank you again, ever so much._

_You make me want to cuddle up with all of you, bake some cherry/chocolate chip cookies (don't knock it 'till you've tried it), and just have a great time, just spectacularly cozy and fluffy, you'll love it._

_Until then, have a great day/week/month/year of your life, and I'll see you all soon!_


	12. Detention Dimissed

_A/N: Hey guys, it's your buddy The Author, and I have a few things that I want to talk to you guys about before we start this chapter. _

_Wow, that came off __**way**__ more serious than I thought it would…sorry about that one._

_Anyways, what I really came to talk to you about is how I'm gonna change things up around here. These changes __**may**__ or may not be seen as an inconvenience, but I can hope they won't._

_I'm starting to organize myself better (believe it or not), and as such, I figured I should keep you guys in the loop. I don't want to __**stray**__ back to my old ways of being messy, disorganized, and wrought with faults (well, more than I currently have now, but you get the picture)._

_So, to keep you guys in said loop, I'm now going to post any upcoming fictions I have in my profile, as well as any important changes that I'm making. And although I tend to __**sway**__ towards the unorthodox end of the spectrum when it comes to organizing theses things, let me assure you I'll try and keep that to a minimum._

_Also, I've noticed that some people are in the __**gray/grey**__ on their opinions about this fiction ever since the little mishap we had with a certain chapter whose name shall not be spoken._

_Therefore, I extend only my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to those of you who have stuck around for this long, and I only hope that you will __**stay**__ with me for a little while longer. This fiction's ending is sadly drawing near…_

_On that note, let's abandon this little note of sorrow, and run __**away **__instead to a more lighthearted environment, eh? Onward!_

_(And don't worry, I'm internally shaming myself for being perhaps the only person who gets cheeky and plays a personal word game when it's supposed to be a serious and heartfelt A/N…Ah, whatever…)_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon sat at the table, Ryuko by the window, their current situation plagued by an awkward and seemingly eternal silence. After Nonon had gone all table-top-proximity-attack on Ryuko, and Ryuko had immediately afterwards bolted up out of her seat and wandered over to the window for a her own reasons, Nonon took the hint and took her place (if only for the moment).

However, unbeknownst to Nonon, Ryuko's 'hint' was actually her going to the window to calm the blush that had somehow eluded Nonon's superlative detective skills. Ryuko distinctly remembered her rush to the window, and everything she had mulled over while she was over there…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**[5 Minutes Ago…]**

Ryuko was helpless but to make the smallest of squeaking noises at the situation. There she was, a beautiful and sexy woman, on all fours no less, right before Ryuko, their faces mere inches apart, and her peachy pink lips begging to be graced by the pleasure of Ryuko's more gruff (yet still soft) counterparts.

Nonon cocked her head to the side out of confusion, and inquired, "Hm? Is something the matter?" as she inched her face ever closer to Ryuko's. At this distance, Ryuko could feel the warm air that escaped Nonon's lips in small, short heaves.

"Uh…" Ryuko managed to say before drawing back just the slightest bit, jostling her raven locks ever so slightly.

"What's wrong?" Nonon inquired as she compensated for the distance that Ryuko had put between them, even to the point of overcompensation, "Do you have a fever or something?" Nonon reached out her hand to place the back of it to Ryuko's forehead, but before she could act quick enough, Ryuko fell backwards out of her chair, creating a rather loud thud as she toppled. Nonon shrieked out of concern for her, and peeked over the table, still on all fours, and said, "Sorry…"

Ryuko's mind instantly came alive with thoughts of how she was unsure about this girl's advances, if they could even be classified as that, and figured she should play it safe.

"O-Oh, it ain't yer fault," Ryuko erratically replied as she rose up from the ground, "I was just er…" Ryuko's eyes quickly analyzed her surroundings until they fell upon the beautiful landscape outside, "I was just lookin' out the window fer a sec there and got a little sidetracked," Ryuko took the opportunity that was created by this hopeless excuse for an excuse to dash over to the window and assume a position such that she appeared to be miring at the outside. However, it was at that moment that the gray and black clouds that had been accumulating over the past few minutes burst, and a rainstorm commenced. Crackling of thunder and lighting echoed across the land and through the open windows, and rain began to pellet the ground before the vicious wind kicked in and began to direct the rain through the storm screens on the windows. Ryuko ended up getting her hand and sweatshirt significantly wet in sacrifice of this endeavor.

"Uh…" Nonon unconfidently began as Ryuko continued to merrily linger by the open window, "You like thunderstorms?"

"Y-Yeah, 'course I do!" Ryuko stammered in response as she spun around, drenching the back of her sweatshirt in the process as she flashed a 'thumbs-up' pose and an extremely forced smile. At that very same instant, a crack of thunder came, causing both girls to jump simultaneously. Ryuko emitted a high pitched yelp, and Nonon relieved herself of her all-fours posture and instead assuming a crisscross sitting position, wrapping her arms around herself and burying her head in them.

Ryuko took note of the behavior and relieved her own shocked appearance, and moved forward towards Nonon as she inquired, "Hey, are you…scared of thunderstorms?"

Nonon's head shot out from her arms, and she retorted, "I could ask the same thing to you! They probably heard that shriek all the way down the block!"

Ryuko blushed at the thought of her scream, and simply spun around to face outside and replied, "Well, if that's how you feel!…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**[Present]**

And the two haven't spoken a word to one another since…

Ryuko twiddled her sole streak of red while Nonon toyed with her own locks, the two still not saying anything to one another.

_'Well great,' _Nonon thought to herself as she gazed a the soaked sentinel that was Ryuko, _'there go my chances. The dates I had planned, the trip for Spring Break, the wedding in a nice chapel, PFFT!' _As Nonon uttered that mental spiel, complete onomatopoeia, she gazed onward at Ryuko who had her own thoughts in mind.

Ryuko gazed onwards as the thunderstorm continued to drench her clothes straight through, and flood the windowsills while it was at it. She contemplated everything she had just done, and told herself, _'Nice work Matoi, you can't foul up enough chances, can ya? You get a chance to be near a pretty little girl like that n' whaddya do? Ya go off with that big mouth o' yers…' _Ryuko heaved a heavy sigh right as the phone on Aikuro's desk began to ring. Both parties stared at it for awhile before they mutually decided to get up to pick it up from their respective positions. However, they both reached the phone at the same moment, bringing their hands into contact momentarily. They both looked up from their positions, their faces both flushed as they allowed their hands to hover mere centimeters over the phone. After a second or two, Ryuko chuckled and flashed that charmingly tomboyish smile of hers before picking up the phone.

"Hello?" Ryuko said as she put the plastic phone on her ear.

"Yo, Ryuko!" Aikuro's obviously tipsy voice called from the other end of the line, Ryuko could hear the classic rock blaring mixed with the clamor of the crowd in the background. "How about that storm, eh?" As Aikuro said that, a crack of thunder came across, and Ryuko felt Nonon's hand clasp firmly around hers.

Ryuko smiled at the move from Nonon, and replied, "Yeah, it's really…" Ryuko locked eyes with Nonon and her smile broadened, "something…"

"Eh? Why the lingering there little Matoi?" Aikuro inquired, "Somethin' happenin' there with that Jak-u-off or whatever her name was?"

"It's _Jakuzure_," Ryuko firmly corrected as she cast an angry glance at the phone, "and maybe there is, maybe there isn't. Wouldn't matter t'some nudist hobo like yerself!"

"Aww, now that's low, even for you, Ryuuga!" Aikuro slurred in reply.

"Nudist hobo…?" Nonon said to herself as she began to think about that one, "Hey, don't tell me he's the same guy who-" thankfully Nonon got cut off by Ryuko's conversation with Aikuro, or else she would've compromised herself.

"_Ryuko_, ya dense prick!" Ryuko snapped back at Aikuro, "And where are you anyways?"

"Oh! I'm still at Checker Records!" Aikuro exclaimed unnecessarily loudly, causing Ryuko to remove the phone from her ear momentarily, "A bunch of us guys busted out the booze and we've just been maxin' and chillaxin' while Mother Nature does her thing, man!" His voice was in a tone that sounded exactly like that of your stereotypical flower child.

"No one says 'chillaxin'' anymore, Mikisugi," Ryuko playfully replied, her smile darkening to one of sarcasm as she spewed those words, "and I thought you agreed, no more drinking when you're on duty. You remember what happened last March?"

"Oh, _I'm sorry, Plank Sleeper_!" Aikuro retorted loud enough for even Nonon to hear.

"Sh-Sh-Shut up!" Ryuko stammered in reply as her blush intensified even more, "When's yer ass gettin' back here?"

Aikuro let out a raucous cackle as he said, "About that, I'm not comin' back."

"What?" Ryuko inquired, thoroughly surprised. A low rumble of thunder arrived with her inquiry, and Ryuko felt Nonon's hand clasp tight again.

"I mean have you _seen_ the storm reports?" Aikuro replied.

"N-No, why?" Ryuko responded, the concern in her voice clearly evident.

"They say this storm's gonna last until late tonight!" Aikuro called back, unknowingly elevating his voice loud enough that Nonon heard, "Listen, it's just chill at the school until the Big Mama takes her chill pill, and then you'll be good to peace."

"It's disturbing how laxly y'say that…" Ryuko initially muttered in reply, her mind already racing with millions of thoughts that each went off like firecrackers of varying magnitudes at that statement.

_'S-S-So…I'm…' _Ryuko thought, doing her best to avoid eye contact with Nonon and hopelessly failing.

_'I'm…alone with her…' _Nonon thought in a pining tone as she involuntarily allowed her gaze towards Ryuko to become 60% more seductive.

Ryuko didn't notice Nonon's enticing glare, and instead continued her conversation with Aikuro. "So, just leave when the storm blows over?"

"That's what I said, soul sister!" Aikuro happily responded as he uttered yet another booming laugh. After he calmed down, he said, "Anyways, take it easy little dude!" before hanging up.

"I'm a woman, damnit!" Ryuko sharply corrected, but didn't make it in time for Aikuro to hear. It wouldn't have mattered much to Aikuro with how out of it he was, but it would've mattered to Ryuko at least. After Ryuko set the phone down, she made her first eye contact with Nonon after awhile, and saw that seductive gaze of hers. Her lipid and full eyes were locked solely on Ryuko, and a playful smile danced upon those lush lips of her. With the way she was leaned over the desk, her shirt drooped just enough for Ryuko to catch a satisfying glimpse down it and permitted her to gaze upon the tops of Nonon's enrapturing breasts. Nonon involuntarily allowed her petite light-pink tongue to rear its tip, and run itself in an enamoring manner across her perfectly glossed lips.

Ryuko noticed this temptress' behavior, and inquired, "Hey, you ok?"

Nonon awakened from the fantasy she had become entranced in, and straightened herself up, her hand still firmly intertwined with Ryuko's, as she said, "O-Of course!"

Ryuko looked down at their locked hands and grinned a cheeky grin as she said, "Oh?" and motioned with her head towards them.

Nonon immediately took notice of this and blushed at the truth, but didn't break the two intertwined members either. She instead scoffed at Ryuko's smug grin and replied, "You have a grin painfully similar to Uzu's…"

"There's that guy's name again," Ryuko remarked out of jocularity, "guy must be somethin'…"

"Oh he's _something…_" Nonon concurred as she thought back on all of the memories she had with Uzu, and all the banter they had spewed collectively, "_a little pissant monkey, that's what…_" she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Ryuko inquired as she cupped her right hand over her right ear, tilted her head accordingly, and leaned in towards Nonon.

"Ah, nothing." Nonon remarked dismissively. As Ryuko reassumed her normal posture, Nonon's eyes happened to drift downwards, and Nonon was instantly flushed redder than she had been in a long time. She immediately averted her gaze from Ryuko to the thunderstorm outside.

Ryuko cocked her head to the side at this unusual behavior from Nonon, and inquired, "Something wrong?"

Nonon was hesitant to say anything, but when she spoke, her tone was overcome with a bizarre mix between elation and embarrassment, "C-Clothes…s-see…"

"Clothes? See? I don't-" Ryuko began, genuinely confused as to what Nonon was saying until she took a second to look down. She realized that all that standing by the window had thoroughly drenched her shirt straight through. Ryuko remembered that she had taken off her sweatshirt after standing by the window had gotten it too wet to be comfortable, but didn't realize that her shirt would be so transparent upon coming into contact with water. And transparent it was, for there, perfectly exposed, was Ryuko's slim, toned belly, accompanied by her well-defined collarbones and plump breasts that were still covered by her blue-and-white-striped bra. Ryuko became just as flushed as Nonon for a moment as she responded, "Oh…" eliciting the smallest of head nods from Nonon. However, after a few seconds, Ryuko began to chuckle at the whole ordeal, and extended her free hand out towards Nonon. Grabbing her by her delicate jaw, Ryuko turned her head back to face her, the let go of her hand before she did what Nonon could never have seen coming.

Ryuko reached her hands down to the edges of the hem of her shirt, firmly grasped them, then, after a deep breath, lifted it up and over her head, tossing it haphazardly into the corner of the room, revealing her alluring features. And if this wasn't enough for Nonon, Ryuko used those same delicate yet gruff hands to reach behind herself, grab the tips of the latch on her bra, and undo them. She rolled her shoulders enough to allow the straps to fall, and soon the bra itself came to float gently down to the linoleum floor. Ryuko's enticing breasts were now in full view, and they were just as perfect as Nonon had envisioned them. Their curvature was second to none, and her nipples had perfectly light red aureolas, and their tips were already showing signs of becoming erect, and it sure as hell wasn't from the chill in the room. Ryuko smiled at Nonon and said, "Something wrong with this?"

At this point, it was taking every bit of strength latent within every fiber of Nonon's being to not break out in a vicious nosebleed and collapse from both arousal and blood loss. Nonon was helpless but to stammer out light, squeaky, incoherent noises, but Ryuko took the initiative to help her.

Extending her left hand and grabbing Nonon's right hand by the wrist, she guided it slowly towards her chest before stopping before her hand was just mere centimeters above Ryuko's left breast, as if to ask for Nonon's consent. Nonon quivered slightly, but gave Ryuko a nod nonetheless, and Ryuko smiled in reply. She moved her hand that much closer, until it was gently grasping Ryuko's breast, her hard and firm nipple like a smooth stone in Nonon's palm. Nonon grasped firmer, and carefully massaged Ryuko's stunning member, causing Ryuko's face to tense up and alternated between various expression of pleasure and arousal before relieving her hand of her position and shooing Ryuko's hand away, Nonon was confident in what she wanted to do.

_'Déjà vu…' _Nonon thought to herself as things proceeded.

She carefully traced Ryuko's bust, her eyes aglow with captivation the entire time, before returning to her original position, and equally as carefully tracing Ryuko's nipple. When she reached the tip, she flicked it back and forth, causing Ryuko to moan silently. Nonon took glee in this, and began to do it more aggressively before she stopped and grabbed the full mass of Ryuko's breast again. She could feel the heat of arousal and embarrassment emanating from Ryuko, but cast a reassuring look at her before she slid her hand lower such that Ryuko's nipple's tip was now lodged in between her middle and ring fingers. Using this to her advantage, she resumed her massage-esque routine, now more firm and animalistic about her motions, ensuring that she was delivering equal action to both Ryuko's breast and nipple. By now she was also mirroring this motion with her other hand, and Ryuko found herself using her own hands to grasp the finely polished desk beneath her firmly in order to prevent herself from collapsing.

The duo wasn't quite sure how long they had been doing this, but it apparently lasted for quite awhile, since the phone beneath them began ringing again. The electronic ring echoed throughout the classroom, bringing Nonon and Ryuko's interactions to a grinding halt. They didn't say anything, just gazed on at the phone for a few minutes before Ryuko worked up the initiative to pick it up and answer. She was still gasping from her experience, but managed to work up a, "Hello?"

"Yo! Ryuko!" Aikuro's cheery voice called from the other end of the line.

"Oh, it's you, Aikuro…" Ryuko responded in an unamused tone.

"Yeah it is! Anyways, I was just wondering if you guys had bounced outta the establishment." Aikuro replied.

"Well of course not, it's-" Ryuko began as she gestured outside but then realized that her and Nonon had been going at it long enough that the rain had now softened up to only a mild downpour. "Oh…"

"Yeah, we're in the eye of the storm right now," Aikuro explained, "but I don't know how long it's gonna last, so I'm bustin outta my space, and I suggest you two do the same."

"Y-Yeah…alright then…" Ryuko replied as she hung up. She then locked morose eyes with Nonon before she said, "It looks like we gotta save the rest until another time…"

Nonon frowned at Ryuko, but obliged and removed her hands from her gorgeous mounds. Ryuko smiled and kissed Nonon's hand as it was moving back before picking up her bra and shirt and getting dressed again. All the while, Nonon was watching on, the hand that Ryuko kissed pressed firmly against her mouth.

Once Ryuko was dressed, Ryuko said, "Y'know, I did say 'another time'."

Nonon snapped herself out of her pity state, and replied, "S-So…you wanna…schedule a date or something?"

"That sounds about right." Ryuko said as she flashed a smile and produced a phone from her pocket.

Nonon was surprised that Ryuko had a phone, given her housing situation, but dismissed it and replied, "Alright, what's your number."

The duo rattled off their individual numbers, logging one another in their contacts and then smiling and conferring plans about a date. Ryuko had several ideas, but Nonon's predetermined plans brought heat to the discussion. After a while of playful bickering, Nonon said, "I'll just text you later, alright?"

"Sounds good!" Ryuko replied as she hugged Nonon tightly, her embrace warm, firm, and sweet-smelling. She had spent so much time around the Sandalwood incense on the desk that her clothes were stained with its spicy scent. Ryuko and Nonon locked eyes once again before bringing their lips together in a soft, tender kiss. They held the kiss for 7 seconds before breaking it, and Nonon smiled before waving 'goodbye' to Ryuko and leaving.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Nonon pranced down the halls, giddy as she could be as she checked her messages and missed calls. There were many from Hōka that all said something to the accord of:

**SAVE US PLEASE DEAR GOD SHE'S GOING TO KILL US**

or something like that. She figured she'd better check to see if they were still alive, and texted Hōka:

**Did the Dog and the Monkey kick the bucket?**

After a few seconds, her phone emitted a notification ping, and sure enough, Hōka had responded:

**The Dog is still alive, the Monkey as well (unfortunately), and Satan's incarnate is pacified for the time being…**

Nonon was unsure what 'pacified' meant in this sense, but dismissed its presence as another message came from Hōka that said:

**So how did things go?**

Nonon smiled at something Hōka said for once and replied:

**Perfect. Just like you said it would.**

It didn't take Hōka long to reply:

**What did I tell you? I **_**knew**_** Matoi would be in detention today of all days…**

Nonon huffed at Hōka's response, and said:

**Yeah, yeah, whatever…**

However, it was then that Hōka sent her a message that brought Nonon face to face with grim reality…

**However, you do realize that…now it's **_**her**_** turn…**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah yes…" Satsuki mused to herself as she lay in her bed in only a fine silk bathrobe, "now it's my turn to take the stage…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: And so another chapter draws to a close! Thanks for reading and look forward to Satsuki making her move next week! This fiction is drawing to a close, one that you won't want to miss!_

_Thanks again to everyone who's stuck around for this long and I hope you'll stick around just a little while more!_

_If you haven't already, why not write a review/follow this story (and me)/favorite this story/all of the aforementioned? It would really make my day, and make me love you more than I already do! _

_I hope you all have a great day/week/month/year of your life, and I'll see you guys (and gals) soon!_


	13. Rooftop Romance

_A/N: Is it worth mentioning that I'm publishing this chapter on my birthday?_

_Nah, probably not…_

_Anyways, apologies about the delayed release on this, but I've been sick the past few days, and there's also been a lot going on as far as my writing goes. I've had to put one finishing touch on the ending to this fiction, which I want to talk to you about in the end, and I've had to start finalizing the plot for _**'Hoenn is Where My Heart Is' **_and _**'I Can't Deny It Anymore' **_which has proved simpler than I previously thought. However, that doesn't mean it isn't difficult. But, that's something else to talk about at the end of this chapter._

_Also, one last apology before we begin, if this chapter seems shorter or rushed, I'm sorry. Like I said, I've been sick and got distracted; I knew you guys wanted (and practically deserved) a new chapter this week, so I put my nose to the grindstone, and here it is! _

_So, enjoy this for all it's worth, and I'll see you in ending A/N!_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Jeez Louise…" Ryuko groaned to herself as she sat atop a bench on top of the school roof; the only bench, actually. She tilted her head back and gazed up at the cloudy, gray sky, a sign of a typical April day, and then gazed around the rooftop. It was entirely concrete with two several meter high metal fences surrounding it, so to prevent casualties, and possessed one bench that certain students with access (whether it be obtained through chicanerous or honest means) enjoyed eating their lunch on the occasion that they were able to do so. There were two entrances, on to the west and one to the east, both of which were heavily reinforced steel doors, and both of which were normally locked, save for today. When Ryuko had came up the stairwell to the roof, she expected to be greeted by locked doors that she would have to pick through (which was no difficult matter for her, she picked up that skill early on in life, but it was an annoyance regardless), however today, the doors were mysteriously unlocked.

Ryuko arrived at the roof at exactly 11:50, and she had been waiting there ever since.

Ryuko pulled her phone from her pocket, and checked the ambiguous message she had received that very morning:

**From: RESTRICTED NUMBER**

**To: You**

**Be on the roof at 12 sharp. Don't be late. - S.K.**

"S.K…S.K…" Ryuko kept repeating to herself, the two letters cluttering her mind and resulting in a cacophony equivalent to that of being trapped in a room with a broken record. "Who has those initials…?" Ryuko thought out loud as she once again cast a glance at the two entrances, hoping that her dubious counterpart had arrived just the slightest bit early. It was all in vain however, since, even at 11:59, Ryuko's mysterious stranger had yet to show. "Whoever they are, I'll give 'em props on livin' up to their word." Ryuko mused to herself as she looked at her phone again.

11:59 and 20 seconds.

"40 seconds, eh?" Ryuko said to herself with a small chuckle, "That's just cliché…" she sighed as she shook her head from side to side ever so slightly, her raven locks flitting in and out of her peripheral vision, and her one red lock drifting ever so close to her left eye. Ryuko took this moment to examine her attire, and hoped that she hadn't dressed too informally. She was wearing a tight baby blue dress shirt that she had found in at the school lost and found, and her usual pair of tattered blue jeans.

_'Even if I did want to wear my sweatshirt,' _Ryuko thought to herself as she cast a heavy sigh, _'it's still dryin' out from yesterday…'_ in an instant, Ryuko remembered everything about yesterday's detention session, in explicit detail, and became overwhelmed by a deep red blush. However, she was not one to stay embarrassed long at something as trifle as that, and immediately shook off the blush, as she told herself, _'It wasn't anything that important, right?' _she gazed about the roof once more and thought, _'I mean, it was just a kinda…uh…spur o' the moment thing, right?' _Ryuko remembered how quickly her heart rate had accelerated the instant she felt Nonon's touch on her breasts; the alluring touch of Nonon's baby soft skin, the subtle chill on her fingertips, the feeling of Ryuko's erect nipples being twisted back and forth in between Nonon's middle and ring fingers…Ryuko remembered it all. She felt the familiar heat begin to crawl up her face, and the heat of embarrassment utilized every pore and every aperture as an avenue to further display itself. As hard as she tried, she could only minimize the blush to the extend that it only showed on her already rosy red cheeks.

_'Ok, calm yerself Matoi,' _Ryuko thought to herself as she took multiple deep, heavy breaths, _'that was just a little fling…' _Ryuko chuckled at the whole experience, and then the image of Ryuko's bubbly crush, Amanda, flowing blonde hair, lipid pools of green for eyes and all, ran through her mind, and she thought out loud, "After all, my true love is Amand-"

Upon those words, the doors to the roof swung open on the right side, and the sound echoed throughout quite possibly the whole school, as Ryuko witnessed one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen walk through the doors.

There, before her, stood Satsuki Kiryuin (of course, Ryuko didn't know her name though), dressed in knee high black socks, and a light yellow skirt with ruffles on the end that covered the rest of her bottom half. It was held up by a sleek and polished black belt with a golden buckle that didn't look to be merely gold-plated, and was accompanied perfectly by a plain black top. A black top that was, however, cut off about the shoulder and bust area, displaying Satsuki's proud and broad but demure and feminine shoulders, and plenty of cleavage from her ample bust that was enough to entice Ryuko right off the bat. It was held up by two thin straps over Satsuki's shoulders that looked as though they could snap at any moment, and the top itself appeared to be composed of fine silk that glistened ever so gently in the trace amounts of light in the area. Satsuki's arms were crossed under her breasts, upping the amount of cleavage visible, and her jet black hair waved ever so softly in the wind, almost in perfect synchronization with Ryuko's hair. The frown that normally painted her face was instead replaced with a straight, neutral expression.

At the sight of this beautiful creation, Ryuko could only conclude the sentence that she had previously been speaking with, "-daaaaaaaaaaaamn…."

Satsuki raised an eyebrow at this, and responded with an inquisitive, "Hm?"

Ryuko responded by shaking her head from side to side furiously until she had regained her wits (which took roughly three seconds) and replied, "Uh, nothin', nothin'…"

"If you insist…" Satsuki replied as she closed the door behind her and reassumed her normal proud posture, adding the slightest version of a flick of the head, which wafted her clean cut bangs ever so slightly.

Ryuko, helpless but to sit there with her jaw slightly agape, simply said, "Uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…." as she marveled on at Satsuki's beauty.

Satsuki sighed and said, "Now I'm positive that there's something wrong."

"N-N-No, ain't nothin' wrong!" Ryuko replied, her drawl flaring up, "If anything' I'm pleased to have ya in my presence."

"As you should be." Satsuki quickly replied as she began to walk towards Ryuko.

Ignoring Satsuki's response, Ryuko began to get her senses back, and, with her coherency about her now, she inquired, "Hey, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

Satsuki stopped mid-stride and thought back to the hug that started this all. The hug on top of the bleachers that had kickstarted all of these emotions that whirled about like a whirlpool in her head and heart, and the plotting and deception by her less-than-reliable Elite Four that led her to this moment here and now.

"…Yes," Satsuki replied, the edges of her mouth appearing to be trying their best to curve themselves into a smile, "I believe you have…"

Satsuki sat down by Ryuko on the bench, and Ryuko studied her form and figure for a minute or two, thoroughly examining every bit of her before declaring, "Oh, _I know!_" Satsuki's face was on the verge of lighting up with elation, but was pushed back to a little behind the verge when Ryuko continued, "You're Satsuki Kiryuin, captain of the cheerleading squad!"

Satsuki, pained that the duo's memories didn't align, simply replied, "Indeed…that's me…"

"I remembered because you've always got that Nonon girl and Amanda hangin' around ya." Ryuko replied with an honest smile.

"Oh yes, _Amanda…_" Satsuki replied, a pinch of villainous intent beginning to permeate her voice, "Amanda won't be returning for quite a while…"

Ryuko raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Why? Did somethin' happen to her?"

"She mysteriously transferred schools due some…harassment issues…" Satsuki replied, being careful to not let too much malicious intent get into her tone.

"Aww…" a saddened Ryuko replied as she sulked and sunk even lower in posture

Satsuki frowned at Ryuko's distress, and grimaced at the fact that she now owed a debt to Uzu, of all people, for his "creative genius" in the design of all of the rumors he had spread around school and online about Amanda. On the verge of throwing up, Ryuko was Satsuki's only saving grace.

"Oh, by the way" Ryuko said, perking up a little and leaning up against the fence behind her, "the pep rally a few days ago was great!"

"Indeed it was. Thank you." Satsuki flatly replied, her mood slightly lifted by Ryuko's pleasant disposition.

"I remember that because that was when we first met." Ryuko responded with a smile on her face, and her cheeks starting to turn red from either a blush, or the chill in the air, Satsuki couldn't discern which.

However, at the mention of those words, Satsuki was over the verge, and now more delighted than she had been in a long time. She snapped her neck to Ryuko as soon as she finished that sentence and inquired, "You remember that?!" her voice painted with and unusual degree of exclamation.

Ryuko took note of Satsuki's demeanor change, but brushed it off as she replied, "Well, don't know as you could quite call it a 'meeting', more you wakin' me up and me huggin' ya."

Satsuki was enthralled at this point, but concealed it well and simply replied, "Ah yes, the hug…"

Ryuko took note of Satsuki's tone change, and said, with a blush on her face, "Oh, sorry about that, I didn't know if you were the huggin' type or not and-"

"It's fine." Satsuki interjected, halting Ryuko mid-sentence, "I actually," Satsuki began as she turned her face to Ryuko to reveal that she had an honest smile on her face as the wind began to subtly waft throughout the area, "rather enjoyed it."

Ryuko felt the warmth of embarrassment begin to overwhelm her as it began to wrap her very existence in its welcoming heat. "O-Oh…well…" Ryuko began to fidget nervously as she rose up and began nervously scratching her cheek (which was past rosy red by now and had transcended all other shades of it, as well) with her right index finger and shakily continued, "I mean…who doesn't like hugs, am I right?" Ryuko nervously laughed, but that didn't seem to shake Satsuki's smile. If anything, it seemed to broaden it.

"You're rather cute, Ryuko." Satsuki commented in her usual tone as she inched closer to Ryuko.

Ryuko cocked her head to the side out of curiosity and inquired, "H-How do you know my name?"

"Oh, Nonon told me." Satsuki replied, her smile not fading, but herself internally heaving a sigh of relief that she had created an excuse in that amount of time.

"Oh, that makes sense." Ryuko replied as she inched ever so slightly away from the towering figure that was Satsuki Kiryuin. Satsuki wasn't about to take that lying down, and instead closed the gap that Ryuko had created between them and in fact overcompensated to the point where Ryuko was helpless but to sit shoulder to shoulder to Satsuki, or fall of the bench entirely.

_'What the hell is with his girl?' _Ryuko thought as she looked over to Satsuki, locking eyes with her and feeling her heart rate increase as she did so, _'She's very…forward…' _after another quick once over of Satsuki's enrapturing outfit, Ryuko thought, _'And she's got a bod to match it…' _she shook her head ever so slightly, and continued on to think, _'What's with me? My heart's racin', my pulse is through the roof, and yet, I feel safe with her…' _

Ryuko distracted herself from the pandemonium of thought and emotion that currently plagued her mind, and shakily inquired, "S-So, Satsuki…"

"Hm?" Satsuki responded, raising one of her proud and bushy eyebrows in Ryuko's direction.

"What'd ya wanna talk about?" Ryuko inquired, her hands gripping to the edges of the bench, her last chance for not falling off.

"Oh, yes, that." Satsuki replied as she leaned in closer to Ryuko, pushing her closer and closer to the brink. As the duo's faces got within mere inches of each other, Satsuki continued, "I'm quite interested in you, Ryuko."

If Ryuko wasn't boiling out of being flushed with emotion before, she was now. "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha-" Ryuko began to inquire before Satsuki leaned in close enough that her nose was touching Ryuko's.

"In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I'm," Satsuki began as she carefully rubbed her nose on Ryuko's before shifting her head in such a way that her mouth ended up next to Ryuko's ear, "in love with you, Ryuko."

It was at that moment that Ryuko, overwhelmed by the happenings of the past few minutes, felt her arms cave out from under her, and the two tumbled off the bench. When they go their wits about themselves, they realized that their position had been compromised; Satsuki was now on top of Ryuko, unwittingly pinning her arms down using her hands while straddling her with her face mere inches away from hers. Both Ryuko and Satsuki felt the tension, and the nervousness that came with it (however, the former did a far worse job at hiding it than the latter). The two just stared at each other for several minutes, the gentle spring breeze rustling the leaves of the nearby trees, and bringing with it darker clouds that surely signaled rain.

Both parties knew what should be done. Ryuko didn't know how, but she could feel it in her heart. Satsuki, well, she knew right from the start what she wanted, and was, as always, hellbent on getting it.

The two locked lips as the rain began to fall. It was a light shower, and the sound of raindrops as they cascaded down upon the cement and the earth beneath them were blocked out of the two girl's ears by the sounds of their own subtle moaning. Initially it was a soft, gentle series of kisses. However, over a period of several seconds, they intensified, and eventually became an all out battle between the two tongues for dominance over one another's mouth. They lashed back and forth at one another furiously, until they split apart to catch their breath, a stringy strand of saliva connecting the two momentarily before it was broken by the wind and rain.

As Ryuko gasped for air from the exchange, Satsuki displayed no signs of exhaustion, much to Ryuko's liking, and she watched as the proud woman checked her phone for the time with her usual frown upon her face, but quickly changed that frown to a smile as she looked at Ryuko and said, "I've got classes now, but shall we schedule something over Spring Break?"

Ryuko was awe-struck by this woman's forwardness in her advances. Forwardness, that had reduced Ryuko to a giddy schoolgirl at this point, leaving her only capable of nodding her head with a small smile on her lips. Satsuki held out her hand and Ryuko (she wasn't sure how) instinctually knew that she must be asking for her phone. After Satsuki punched her number into Ryuko's phone and Ryuko's into hers, she tossed Ryuko's phone back to her and then offered her a different hand, a hand that beckoned for her to take it and stand. Ryuko gladly accepted, and rose into the tall woman's warm embrace. The two lingered there as the rain continued to pelt them, and Satsuki went on to say, "You should probably get inside before you get sick. I don't want you sneezing on me on any dates we make."

"Same goes to you." Ryuko playfully shot back, eliciting a small huff of amusement from Satsuki.

The two hugged tighter once more before Ryuko made a dash for the exit, leaving Satsuki to once again hug her own self tight to cherish and preserve what warmth Ryuko had left over.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Satsuki began to descend the staircase she was met with a familiar and annoying voice calling to her from behind.

"Yo, Satsuki!" Uzu called in his snide tone, causing Satsuki to turn around and see him right beside the doors as they slammed behind her. He flicked his head, causing his forest-green locks to dust his brow ever so gently before continuing, "So I saw that whole mess out there, and let me just say-"

Satsuki assumed an offensive stance, and took several menacing steps towards Uzu. He didn't physically flinch, but he did the slightest bit in his head. He chuckled at Satsuki's furious disposition, and said, "My my, is someone self conscious about their kissing abilities?"

"Only as self conscious as a certain someone is about their middle name, _Lawrence_." Satsuki deadpanned in reply as her eyes locked with Uzu's.

Uzu's chuckle intensified as he clasped his hand over his chest and gritted his teeth slightly, as if to display he had suffered a blow to the heart, and he then droned in a sarcastic tone, "Oooh, got me there. No, _real original_ there, Eyebrows."

"Who's unoriginal?" Satsuki inquired as she rolled her eyes and furrowed that majestic brow of hers.

Uzu made a shoo-ing gesture with his hand, and inquired, "So, how'd it go?"

Satsuki was hesitant at first, but she then donned a rarely seen smile (at least, rarely seen around Uzu), and replied, "Splendidly. Ryuko is as good as mine."

"Excellent;" Uzu responded as he gave a loud, exaggerated clap to Satsuki before placing his hand on his chin and continuing, "now to figure out how to spend those two favors…"

"If you're smart," Satsuki interjected, "you'll use them to wish that I'll never try to kill you."

"If you would've tried killing me, I'd already be dead." Uzu retorted, his hallmark grin painting his face, causing Satsuki to respond with a look of mild disgust.

"Although, I am worried about Nonon…" Satsuki wistfully thought out loud, drawing the attention of Uzu.

Uzu gazed on at Satsuki, who appeared to be contemplating a number of different scenarios and ideas, before interrupting her and saying, "Don't worry, I've got something planned for her…"

"Oh?" Satsuki inquired as she raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"Provided you raise the favor count to '3', that is." Uzu added in a coy tone that one could easily mistake for real.

"It will be contemplated." Satsuki firmly responded, "Your idea?"

Uzu glanced out the window at the rain as the downpour escalated in severity by the minute, and then began to laugh a raucous laugh before calming himself and responding, "Well, let's just say that sometimes you need to throw the dog a bone…even if the bone has a few scales…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_A/N: Author here. Sorry if this all seemed kinda rushed or forced or anything like that, but I have school bearing down on me, but I knew you guys wanted this, so I pumped this out as best I could!_

_And yes, this is the 2nd to last chapter! Meaning that the next chapter will be the grande finale! __**However**__, that's going to take me some time to write, and it won't be easy with tests coming up. I'd say I'm going to need a week and a half __**AT LEAST**__, and two weeks __**AT MOST**__. I thank every single one of you who has stuck around for this hell of a ride, and I hope that you'll continue to read my fictions as I publish them._

_By the way, I have two upcoming fictions I told you about in the opening A/N that you can read about on my profile bio, so I recommend checking that out. If you want, tell me which one you'll be most likely to read in the review that you may/may not write!_

_Speaking of, don't forget to write a review/favorite this piece/follow this piece (and/or me)! And if you don't, it's fine, I still love you regardless._

_Thank you __**so much**__ for reading, have a great day/week/month/year of your life, and I'll see you all in the finale!_


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